


A Garden of Centaureas

by Nagitos_mittens



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:47:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27419758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nagitos_mittens/pseuds/Nagitos_mittens
Summary: After returning to Jabberwock island, everyone seems to be doing well. Hope seems to finally be shining through for everyone. Hajime and Nagito are as happy as ever, though not all is well. With Nagito’s illness worsening, and Hajime showing signs of Izuru’s presence, it seems that everything might come crashing down.Sequel to Marigolds in the Wind.
Relationships: Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko/Pekoyama Peko/Soda Kazuichi, Mioda Ibuki/Tsumiki Mikan, Nidai Nekomaru/Owari Akane, Sonia Nevermind/Tanaka Gundham
Comments: 9
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

Hajime yawned, his eyes opening as the morning sun flooded into the cottage. He rubbed his eyes gently, yawning softly as he sat up. Then he looked over to the other boy laying next him, sleeping peacefully. Hajime smiled, gently rubbing the white haired boy's side to wake him up.

Ever since the 77th class returned to the island, Nagito and Hajime were nearly inseparable. Well, they weren't the only ones. Everyone had seemed to form their own relationships of some kind once everyone had settled on the island, creating a very peaceful and friendly atmosphere compared to what it was like in the neo world program.

Nagito groaned softly as Hajime shook him gently, his eyes slowly opening. He looked up to the brunet, smiling softly, "why hello there Hajime..."

"Good morning to you too..." Hajime chuckled softly, "I take it you slept well?"

"Mhm, just like always..." Nagito said, slowly sitting up and giving Hajime a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Good to hear," Hajime smiled, swinging his legs around to the edge of the bed, "you wanna get ready?"

"Well, I'd like to go back to sleep, but I also don't wanna keep everyone waiting," Nagito chuckled, following Hajime and getting up.

"How about we have a pyjama day then?" Hajime suggested, "we'll get cleaned up to get breakfast and then we can have a lazy day back here."

"I like the sound of that," Nagito took Hajime's hand, walking with him into the bathroom.

The two boys got ready together everyday. Even if the bathroom was a little cramped, they still found a way to squeeze together while brushing their teeth. After that, Hajime always brought Nagito back out to the bedroom so he could brush his hair. The brunet always did it for Nagito since he liked doing it and the pale boy had a habit of forgetting often.

"Is a ponytail ok?" Hajime asked, gently running the brush through Nagito's hair.

"Oh yeah, my hair's been all over the place lately," Nagito said softly, grabbing a hair elastic off the nightstand for Hajime.

The brunet took the hair tie from Nagito, then brushed Nagito's hair back and together before gently tying his hair up. When Hajime was done, he pulled the ponytail tight, then wrapped his arms around Nagito. He didn't necessarily want to get up either, but he knew that they both had to get breakfast. Hajime chuckled softly, gently scooping Nagito up and earning a small gasp of surprise from him.

"What's this for?" Nagito giggled softly, wrapping his arms around Hajime's neck.

"Well you wanna have a lazy day, right? I'll carry you Nagito," Hajime smiled softly.

"Are you sure?" Nagito asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Hajime said, slipping his slippers on and leaving their cottage.

Hajime held Nagito close, carrying him out to the restaurant where everyone else was. He set the white haired boy down once they arrived, letting him go get some of Teruteru's cooking. They had reestablished their table, but this time with a few new additions. 

Along with Fuyuhiko, Kazuichi, Akane, and Ibuki, there was how Peko, Nekomaru, and Mikan. Peko sat in between Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi, they had gotten really close since they arrived on the island once again, so the boys invited her to sit. Then Akane of course invited coach Nekomaru. Well, now she called him her "darling Nekomaru" and he sat beside her. Then Ibuki brought Mikan. Despite being her killer, Ibuki took quite the liking to Mikan and had her come sit with them as well.

"Morning slowpokes!" Akane chuckled as Hajime and Nagito sat down.

Nagito chuckled softly, "ah, apologies... I'm the one that didn't want to get up."

"Seems pretty evident," Peko smiled, pointing out Nagito and Hajime's pyjamas.

"Yeah, Nagito wants to have a lazy day today," Hajime rubbed the white haired boy's back.

"Seems fair, you two have been doing lots of work lately," Nekomaru leaned over the table a bit to look at the two other boys.

While Nagito had a pretty impractical talent and Hajime had a variety of talents, they worked close together. They did a ton of work around the island that didn't require a specific talent, leaving them pretty busy. Since all the other ultimates were busy with their own personal tasks, the two boys were dumped with the rest of the work to do throughout the day.

"I hope you guys don't mind, I know we have things to do but we'll be sure to get it done tomorrow!" Nagito said.

"Oh you don't have to worry, man!" Kazuichi said, "I'm sure we can all get them done, right?" He asked, looking to Peko.

"Yes, we may have our own tasks but we also have time to do the regular tasks if we distribute them among ourselves," Peko nodded, then looked to Nagito and Hajime, "so you two don't have to worry, we'll get it taken care of."

Nagito smiled, "you guys are too kind, thank you so much!"

Hajime smiled as well as Nagito thanked everyone. As apart of Nagito's plan to better himself, one of the first things he had to do was to at the very least avoid degrading himself as much as possible. He had struggled a little at the beginning but now, he was doing great. Hajime had suggested to him to try just simply complimenting people without spinning that compliment into some sort of comparison or any way to paint Nagito in a negative light and it seemed to be working.

Hajime wrapped his arm around Nagito's waist, scooting him a little closer and making the white haired boy look at him. The brunet smiled softly, gently placing a kiss on Nagito's lips, "I'm very proud of you Nagito..."

Nagito blushed softly and returned the kiss, smiling as well once he pulled away, "oh, thank you Hajime... I'm doing my best."

"And that's good, I'm glad," Hajime kissed Nagito again, tucking a piece of Nagito's long bangs behind his ear. 

Then everyone got to eating before their breakfasts got cold. Once they were finished, everyone thanked Teruteru for the food, then went on their way.

Hajime and Nagito made their way back to their cottage. The white haired boy flopped onto the bed once they arrived, adjusting and curling up on the bed. Hajime turned the lights down a bit, then sat down on the bed with Nagito. The brunet laid on his side, gently playing with the other boy's hair as they both got comfy. Soon Nagito yawned, closing his eyes and cuddling against Hajime, bringing the brunet off to sleep with him.

While the two boys were asleep, everyone else got down to work. First they had to decide who would be doing what while Hajime and Nagito were resting.

They eventually decided everyone would work in pairs. 

"Oh, you two can work together, I can find someone else," Kazuichi said to Fuyuhiko and Peko, knowing that they'd probably work better together.

"Hold on Kaz, we have an uneven number of people, so you can stay with us," Fuyuhiko said, taking the pink haired boy's hand.

Kazuichi immediately smiled, "yes!" He pumped his fist into the air, then joined the two as they got to work. 

As midday hit, Nagito and Hajime finally decided to get up. The two boys groaned, stretching out as they slowly untangled themselves from each other. Nagito smiled and kissed Hajime gently to wake him up more.

"Why hello there darling..." Nagito smiled, caressing Hajime's cheeks gently.

"Mmm... Hi Nagito..." Hajime chuckled softly, sitting up and wrapping his arms around the white haired boy.

"Did you sleep well?" Nagito asked, gently moving his hands from Hajime's cheeks to his hair.

"Mhm, what about you Nagito?" Hajime sat back, pulling Nagito into his lap.

"It was great! I was very comfy, especially with you here..." Nagito smiled, leaning his forehead onto Hajime's softly.

"Aw.. I'm flattered Nagito..." Hajime chuckled, kissing the other boy softly.

"Really?" Nagito asked, "I'm... I'm glad I can do that for you!" 

Hajime chuckled softly, "why don't we get up? I'm sure the others could use some help if they're not done yet."

Nagito nodded, then scooted off of Hajime, "Yeah, hopefully it wasn't too much trouble for anyone!"

"I'm sure it wasn't, Peko seemed pretty adamant that it'd be fine," Hajime said, getting some clothes out for the both of them.

Nagito stood up, going to join Hajime as they got out of their pyjamas and into their clothes. Nagito went to go put his shoes on, but was swiftly stopped from a hand on his shoulder.

"Ah-" Nagito flinched a little, before looking back to the brunet, "is something wrong Hajime?"

"Your ponytail got all messed up, can I fix it?" Hajime asked.

"Oh, of course Hajime!" Nagito smiled softly, taking the elastic out of his hair and handing it back to the brunet.

Hajime didn't bother to go grab a brush, instead just opting to run his fingers through Nagito's hair. Then he gently pulled the white haired boy's hair back, tying it back again and placing a small kiss on Nagito's shoulder.

Nagito smiled softly, looking back to Hajime and kissing him softly, "I've found that you've become much kinder over time Hajime..."

"Really?" Hajime asked.

Nagito nodded, "Mhm, you used to be very go-go-go and just worried about what was going on with the game and everything, but now that it's all over you've almost softened a little." He smiled, "Not to say that's a bad thing or anything! It's nice, I like it a lot..."

Hajime smiled softly, "well... I guess that might be in part because of you, you gave me someone to love and to care about and I guess that kinda translated into my everyday life..."

Nagito smiled, hugging Hajime gently, "I hope we can keep it this way, I think this is the happiest I've been in a while..."

"I feel the same..." Hajime said, resting his chin on Nagito's shoulder, "I finally feel like I belong somewhere... and it's all thanks to you and the others..."

Nagito heard Hajime's voice break slightly, making him look over to the other boy, "are you ok Hajime...?"

Hajime looked to Nagito, blinking a couple tears out of his eyes, "yeah, I'm great Nagito... I'm very happy..." he said, smiling. 

Nagito reached over and gently wiped some of Hajime's tears, smiling a little himself, "happy tears..."

"Yeah..." Hajime nodded, "I'm just- I never thought I'd be able to do anything like this..."

Nagito pulled away for a moment, before bringing Hajime to the couch. He sat him down, then returned to hugging him.

"Careful, I might just fall back asleep..." Hajime chuckled softly, wiping his eyes gently.

"Well we're not necessarily needed at the moment, we can stay here all we want," Nagito said, gently kissing Hajime's tears away.

Hajime smiled, grabbing Nagito's cheeks and pulling him close. He kissed the pale boy softly, just letting him know how much he loved him. The brunet then gently pulled Nagito into his lap, feeling just how soft his lips were. Now that the white haired boy was taking care of himself, everything just felt so much softer. His hair, his lips, his skin, Hajime loved it all. He opened his eyes a little as him and Nagito continued to make out, god was he ever lucky to have Komaeda. The pale boy was a true beauty, a work of art even, and he fell for Hajime. That'd be something the brunet was forever grateful for.

Nagito then pulled away for air, taking a few deep breaths. Hajime smiled up to him, gently running his fingers through his white bangs. Nagito looked back down to him, smiling back softly.

"Nagito, thank you for everything you've done for me..." Hajime said, holding him close.

"Ah... Hajime... I'm sure you've done more for me than I have for you..." Nagito chuckled softly.

Hajime shook his head, "oh I don't think so... we've done a lot more for each other than we both think I'm sure. Even when we first met, even when you found out I was a reserve course student, I'm so thankful for everything Nagito..."

Nagito sat back a little, his eyes wide. He was absolutely speechless. How could he answer to that? He bit his lip a little, blushing softly, "Hajime... you're too kind... really..."

"I just wanna make sure you know that you're very important to me Nagito..." Hajime held the white haired boy close.

Nagito smiled, "and you're very important to me as well Hajime..."

The brunet kissed Nagito's forehead gently, "I love you Nagito..."

"I love you too..." Nagito smiled, nuzzling Hajime's cheek gently.

The two boys lingered there for a moment, then they decided to finally get up. Nagito scooted off of Hajime's lap, then headed towards the door to get his shoes on. The brunet followed suit, pulling his shoes on and tying them up. Then the two held each other's hands, before heading out to find the others.

They left the hotel grounds, heading off to look around. They did end up finding one of the pairs on the beach, who immediately took notice.

Ibuki and Mikan looked over, while Ibuki waved to the two.

"Hey guys!" Ibuki smiled.

Nagito waved back, smiling as well, "hi! Are you guys working ok?" 

"Y-yes, did you guys sleep well?" Mikan asked.

"Yeah, I think it was well needed nap," Hajime smiled, "do you know how everyone else is doing?" 

"Last time I-I checked, Fuyuhiko, Peko, and Kazuichi were done a-and same with Akane and Nekomaru..." Mikan said, "we're a-also done too!"

"Do you need a hand at all?" Nagito offered.

"Oh no, we'll get it done! Right Mikan?" Ibuki looked over to her.

Mikan smiled softly, "y-yes! We can do it!"

"Then I guess we'll leave you guys to it, bye!" Hajime waved, then headed off with Nagito.

The two boy's continued around the island, checking on everyone and making sure they were doing ok. They all seemed to be getting everything done and no one needed help, so Nagito and Hajime returned to the hotel grounds and went to the restaurant. Using a computer they were provided by Future Foundation, they went to contact Makoto, just to give him a daily report on everything.

The two boys settled down at one of the tables, then opened up the computer. Hajime got it all set up, then they waited.

Once they were connected, Makoto and Byakuya both appeared on screen. The brunet on screen smiled, "you two are early today!"

Hajime chuckled softly, "Yeah, the two of us took the day off today, the others were nice enough to cover for us."

"Oh, that's nice," Makoto said softly.

"And I see you've brought a guest of your own," Hajime smiled, pointing out Byakuya.

"Yeah, turns out that even a grumpy guys like him misses you guys!" Makoto chuckled.

Byakuya smiled a little, chuckling softly, "I don't believe I'm that grumpy anymore Makoto..."

Makoto shrugged a bit, "well at least you admit you were grumpy..." then he looked back to the computer, "anyways, I take it everything's going well there?"

Nagito smiled, "yes, everything's going great! Hope is definitely shining through here!"

"That's great, and while you're here Nagito," Makoto paused for a moment, "has Mikan talked to you yet?"

"Well we ran into her, but she didn't mention anything specific," Nagito said.

"Well, we were able to get our hands on your treatment and we'll be sending it over to the island, Mikan will discuss further plans, but you'll be seeing her for the next while!" Makoto explained.

Nagito smiled softly, "that sounds great Makoto, thank you."

"Well then, I think that should be all for today, you two take it easy ok?" Makoto smiled.

"Of course, you too Makoto," Hajime said softly, waving to the two on the other side of the screen.

"Bye guys!" Makoto waved, then signed off.

Makoto stretched out as he shut the computer off, and then stood up. He sighed softly, then looked to Byakuya, "now, back to work right?"

"Well... maybe we should take a break too," Byakuya suggested, wrapping an arm around Makoto as they walked.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea, but we've got a ton of work on our hands," Makoto looked up to Byakuya, "I'd love to, but I don't know if I can right now..."

"I beg to differ," Byakuya said softly, "we don't necessarily have anything that has a concrete deadline right now or anytime soon, so why don't the two of us take the rest of the day off?"

Makoto sighed a little, "well, I guess it wouldn't hurt, right?"

"Not at all, let's go," Byakuya offered a small smile, bringing Makoto back towards their room.

Meanwhile, Hajime and Nagito had waited in the restaurant. They even got the chance to help Teruteru out with cooking dinner. They started to bring all the food out into the main area when the others started to slowly enter the restaurant. After everything was out, Nagito and Hajime were free to get their food and went to join everyone at their usual table.

"They've returned!" Ibuki announced when Nagito and Hajime arrived.

"You two look like you've spent your day off well," Peko smiled softly to them.

"Oh definitely, Hajime cuddled me a whole bunch and I even had a nice dream about him as well! Then we went to see Mikan and Ibuki and as you know, all of you guys as well and then we went to see Makoto and Byakuya was there too! Then Teruteru came to start making dinner so we helped him!" Nagito rambled, smiling through it all.

"That sounds really nice!" Ibuki smiled, "hey Mikan, can we do something like that sometime?" 

The purple haired girl blushed softly, averting her eyes a little, "that d-does sound really nice Ibuki..."

Ibuki wrapped her arm around Mikan, smiling wide, "then it's decided! I can't wait!"

Nekomaru then leaned forward, "hey, is everyone free tomorrow night?"

"I'm sure Hajime and I are, why do you ask Nekomaru?" Nagito leaned on his hand to look over to the bigger man.

"Remember when some of us lit some fireworks? Well, what if we did that again but with all of us?" Nekomaru suggested, "everyone's kinda established their own little posse, so I believe we should all work together and have fun!"

"Fireworks? Oh, that sounds like lots of fun!" Nagito smiled, then looked to the brunet beside him, "does that mean I get to see Hajime in a yukata?"

Hajime blushed softly, chuckling a little, "y-yeah, I guess..."

"Then we're in! What about you guys?" Nagito leaned on the table, looking to the others.

Everyone looked amongst each other for a moment, before all slowly agreeing. Nekomaru stood enthusiastically, going to tell the others about it. When he returned, to everyone in the restaurant had agreed to come.

"This is gonna be so fun!" Ibuki smiled, "now, who's gonna set it up?"

"I volunteer, since it was my idea," Nekomaru smiled.

"I can help," Nagito said softly, "I'm sure Hajime wouldn't mind as well."

Hajime chuckled softly, remembering how it went in the neo world program, "as long as I actually get the help this time."

"Oh yeah, don't worry we'll get most of it done in the day so you'll have time to get ready!" Nekomaru said.

"Great," Hajime smiled softly, "then I guess we'll see you all tomorrow night!"

Everyone nodded as most of them finished up their food. They all started to put their dishes away and all said goodnight, before returning to their cottages.

Nagito smiled as they entered, "we have yukatas here, right? I really wanna see you in a yukata Hajime!"

Hajime chuckled softly at Nagito's enthusiasm, "I'm sure we do, we'll dig them out tomorrow ok?"

"Of course, we should probably get some sleep if we're gonna help tomorrow right?" Nagito asked, already getting changed into his pyjamas.

"Yeah, we do," Hajime said, hugging Nagito from behind gently to slow him down, "but we can chill out just for a bit, we don't necessarily have to go to bed right now..."

"Ah, apologies Hajime..." Nagito chuckled a little, leaning into the hug, "perhaps I was a little too eager."

"It's ok..." Hajime smiled softly, "you're excited, that just means your happy and if you're happy, then I'm happy..."

"My happiness brings you happiness?" Nagito looked back to Hajime, "oh, I'm honoured, truly..."

Hajime kissed the top of Nagito's head gently, "you don't have to be, I'm just glad you're happy..."

Nagito smiled and turned to face Hajime, "you're gonna look so nice tomorrow in that yukata..."

"I bet you're gonna look nice as well..." Hajime said softly, nuzzling the pale boy's cheek.

Nagito chuckled softly, wrapping his arms around Hajime and placing a gently kiss on his lips, “I can’t wait darling...”

“Me neither...” Hajime said softly, walking Nagito to the bed, “I’ll get dressed, then we can cuddle and go to bed, ok?”

“Sounds good...” Nagito smiled, sitting down on the bed and waiting for Hajime.

Once the brunet was done changing, he returned to the bed and crawled in beside Nagito, hugging him and laying down with him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, ok Nagito?” Hajime places one final goodnight kiss on the pale boy’s forehead.

“Mhm, goodnight Hajime...” Nagito kissed the brunet softly, then closed his eyes and cuddled up with Hajime.


	2. Chapter 2

Nagito ended up waking up before Hajime, he was already prepared for the day ahead of them. He was able to dig out the yukatas in their cottage, then went to wake up the sleeping brunet. Nagito crawled into their bed and reached over, shaking Hajime to wake him.

Hajime shifted a little, his eyes slowly opening. At first he looked a little concerned since Nagito was up so early, "morning... everything ok Nagito...?"

"Oh yeah, everything's fine Hajime," Nagito smiled softly, "I just took some time to get out our yukatas for tonight."

"You didn't have to do that Nagito..." Hajime sat up softly, gently tucking some white hair behind Nagito's ear, "you didn't brush your hair or anything while you were doing that...?"

"Ah, no... apologies Hajime," Nagito chuckled softly.

"Mm... don't worry about it, let's just get cleaned up ok?" Hajime offered, standing up with the white haired boy, "a shower probably wouldn't be a bad idea too..."

"Do you want the shower to yourself?" Nagito asked.

"You need to clean up too, get over here," Hajime took Nagito's hand, pulling him into the bathroom.

Hajime turned the water on, making sure it was warm enough. Then he pulled his hand out and started to get undressed, while Nagito followed suit. It wasn't uncommon for the boys to bathe or shower together, they just found it comfy. They both stepped into the shower, adjusting so the water was hitting both of them. They both lingered there for a bit, before they slowly started taking turns washing each other's hair.

"It seems that little bit of hair is always gonna be there..." Nagito chuckled softly, gently pressing down Hajime's ahoge, only to watch it spring back up.

"Yeah, well... I don't mind anymore," Hajime chuckled, carefully washing Nagito's hair.

Nagito smiled softly, leaning into the brunet's hands, "I think it's cute actually... I hope it doesn't go away..."

Hajime blushed a little, averting his gaze a little, "Nagito..." he chuckled a little.

"What?" Nagito giggled softly.

"Just... Shush..." Hajime shook his head, blushing deeper.

"Don't worry Hajime... we'll just get all washed up," Nagito smiled, grabbing the body wash so he could start washing himself.

The boy's got themselves all washed off, then turned the shower off. They both got out and got wrapped up in towels, while Hajime grabbed an extra towel to dry off Nagito's hair. The white haired boy wrapped his first towel around him, using the other one Hajime grabbed him to dry off his hair. Once he was done, he tossed that towel aside and went to run a brush through his hair. 

Nagito set the brush down, then looked to Hajime, making the brunet smile. Even if his hair was damp, it still looked really fluffy.

"All dry?" Nagito asked, going to get clothes from the other room.

"Yeah, you wanna get me some clothes too?" Hajime poked his head out of the bathroom.

"Coming right up," Nagito chuckled softly, going into their wardrobe and grabbing clothes for both of them.

Nagito then returned to the bathroom, holding out his clothes he grabbed for Hajime. He just grabbed a t-shirt and jeans for both of them, they could worry about accessorizing after. 

They both got changed, then continued on cleaning up. They followed through with the rest of their normal routine, then went to get their shoes on. Nagito grabbed his old jacket and got his shoes on, then stood by the door to the wait for Hajime.

"Are you ever gonna fix that sleeve on your jacket?" Hajime asked as he pulled his own shoes on.

"Hm..." Nagito lifted his once limp arm, now being replaced with a mechanical prosthetic and pondered for a moment, "possibly, though I'm unsure if I have the skills to fix it..."

"Well I'm sure at least someone here knows how to sew, we can see they'll be able to help," Hajime smiled reassuringly, opening the door for both of them.

"That'd be very nice," Nagito smiled as well, "I'm sure this isn't exactly a pretty sight."

"Well it's not that," Hajime said as they started to walk towards the restaurant, "I'm sure it'd just be more comfortable."

"Well, that's also true," Nagito chuckled softly, "though we can worry about my jacket later, we have a big day ahead of us!"

Hajime chuckled softly, "yes, we do..." he said, then continued walking with the pale boy to the restaurant.

They met up with everyone for breakfast, getting their food and sitting down. Nagito seemed particularly chatty, which wasn't exactly surprising considering how excited he'd been since yesterday. 

"We'll get to work after breakfast, right?" Nagito smiled, looking over to Nekomaru.

"Yeah!" Nekomaru smiled, "are you ready to work Hajime?"

Hajime chuckled softly at the two excited boys, "of course, I wouldn't have volunteered if I didn't want to work."

"Well, it was more like Nagito roped you into doing it," Fuyuhiko said.

"I don't think so, he suggested it and I wanted to do it, so for the most part I'm doing this off my own free will," Hajime smiled softly.

"Ah, I'm glad you didn't feel forced Hajime," Nagito smiled softly, "that'd be pretty bad boyfriend of me to do that..."

"Oh don't get started on that again," Hajime said, rubbing Nagito's back, "you're great Nagito, I love you..."

The white haired boy smiled, "that's good to know Hajime..." he said, leaning over to the brunet and kissing him softly.

Then everyone got to eating, with Nagito and Nekomaru eating rather quickly. As soon as they were done, both boys shot upend grabbed their things.

"Can you meet us there Hajime?" Nagito asked, nearly bouncing up and down from excitement.

Hajime noticed and nodded, "yeah, I'm almost done anyways, so I'll be there soon."

Nagito smiled, kissing Hajime on the head, "thank you darling! I'll see you soon!"

The brunet waved as the two excited boys headed off, then went back to his food. He smiled softly as he ate, he liked when Nagito used pet names. He didn't use them often, but when he did it made Hajime's heart flutter a little. Maybe he could ask him about it. Would that be awkward at all? Hajime didn't know. Though he just finished his food, waving to everyone and heading off to the supermarket.

When he arrived, he saw that Nagito and Nekomaru had gotten to work. They had been gathering boxes of fireworks and bringing them to the front. Nagito stopped when he saw Hajime, putting the fireworks down and waving.

"You've arrived Hajime!" Nagito smiled, "now, we've got all the boxes here, can you help us bring them to the beach? Then we can start decorating."

"Of course I can," Hajime smiled, going to get one of the boxes.

Then the three boys started to go between the beach and the supermarket, slowly bringing the boxes down to the beach. They left them all in a group together, then returned to go get some things to decorate. They gathered some things like lanterns, posts, and more. Then they returned to the beach, and started setting things up. Nekomaru was doing pretty well on his own, while Nagito sat atop Hajime's shoulders and hung stuff up.

Once they got everything set up, they all sat back to take a look at everything.

Nagito smiled, resting his hands on top of Hajime's head and leaning his chin on them, "I think it looks great guys..."

"Agreed! We did a great job!" Nekomaru smiled, giving Hajime and Nagito a high five.

"Yeah," Hajime chuckled softly, then gently pat Nagito's thigh, "now you need to get down, I'm sore..."

The brunet gently leaned forward, allowing Nagito to hop off. Then Nekomaru looked to the two, "now that we're all done, that leaves the rest of the day to get ready!"

Hajime stood back up, fixing any of the hair that got messed up when Nagito got off him, "sounds good!"

"But we should come back a little before sundown, just so we can prepare the fireworks!" Nekomaru suggested.

"Mhm! But until then, we'll go get ready!" Nagito said, grabbing Hajime's hand and dragging him back towards their cottage. 

Once they arrived, Nagito was already going to grab the yukatas he had laid out. He got hold of them, then returned to Hajime and pushed the yukatas into his chest.

The brunet held his hands up a bit, "hold on Nagito, we don't have to get ready yet!"

Nagito stopped, backing off a bit, "Ah, perhaps I've gotten a little carried away Hajime, apologies..."

"Don't worry Nagito, I get you're excited," Hajime chuckled softly, "let's just chill out for a bit ok?"

The white haired boy nodded, and put the yukatas down, then he returned to Hajime and hugged him gently. The brunet smiled softly, hugging Nagito back and resting his chin on his shoulder.

Nagito smiled, "hm... maybe we should chill out more often..."

"Yeah? Why's that?" Hajime lifted his head to look to Nagito.

"It's just... nice," Nagito said softly, "it feels like we're not as busy as we always are, like we can just take a small breather..."

"I agree..." Hajime nodded, "sometimes it feels like we're constantly on the move, but right now... like you said, it's nice..."

Nagito giggled softly, looking to Hajime and kissing him softly. The brunet reciprocated, holding Nagito close as they took a moment. Once they pulled away, the white haired boy leaned his forehead onto Hajime's, letting his arms wrap tightly around the brunet. 

"Ah- Nagito, careful there-" Hajime pushed Nagito's arms gently, that were wrapped a little too tightly around him.

"Oh, sorry," Nagito chuckled softly, loosening his grip, "I just don't wanna let go..."

Hajime blushed softly, holding Nagito close, "and you're immediately forgiven..."

As the day began to die, the boys started to get ready. Nagito had gotten all wound up again, dressing Hajime in his yukata and planting a kiss on his forehead when he finished.

Then the brunet grabbed Nagito's yukata, "now it's my turn!"

The white haired boy didn't resist, getting undressed out of his usual clothes. Then he let Hajime put the yukata on, wrapping the sash around his waist and tying it up.

Once they were all ready, Nagito looked at both of them in the mirror and smiled, "we look great..."

Hajime smiled as well, "yeah, we do..."

Nagito got their sandals out and pulled them on, "I guess we should go meet up with Nekomaru now, right?"

"Yeah, we can head out now," Hajime said, taking Nagito's hand and leaving their cottage.

The two made their way off the hotel grounds and towards the beach, where Akane and Nekomaru already were. They were already starting to get everything fully set up as the sun went down.

Akane noticed the two, then waved, "oh, you guys look great!"

"Ah, thanks Akane!" Nagito smiled, "you two look great as well."

"Now that you guys are here, let's get everything ready!" Nekomaru said.

Then the four then got everything ready. They lit lanterns and got the fireworks ready, then set up anything else they had to. By the time they were done, the sun started to go down and everyone else started to show up.

"Wow, the decor is wonderful!" Sonia smiled as her and Gundham arrived. 

"Hm... agreed, this location was definitely a good choice," Gundham nodded, walking to where everyone was.

After they joined the others, everyone chilled out for a bit while they waited for the rest. And slowly, everyone else slowly arrived.

Once everyone had arrived and Teruteru had brought snacks, they could all get this show on the road. Nekomaru and Akane started to set up the fireworks while everyone else mingled. Everyone agreed that they'd swap out handling the fireworks so everyone could enjoy the night.

Nagito and Hajime just ended up sitting and looking out at the ocean and the fireworks. It was peaceful. The two were leaning on each other and they knew that they could just relax. Then they heard a click, causing Hajime to sit up and turn to see who it was.

Obviously it was Mahiru, who was taking pictures, "oh, sorry to surprise you guys, you want another picture?" 

"Oh uh- sure," Hajime smiled, pulling Nagito up so they were both standing.

Hajime wrapped his arm around Nagito. The white haired boy chuckled softly as Mahiru snapped a photo, then she went over the boys and showed them their picture.

Hajime smiled softly, "you look cute in that Nagito..."

Nagito blushed softly, "aha... you think so?" 

"Of course," Hajime held Nagito close, kissing his cheek softly.

"I'll get all these pictures printed tomorrow, then everyone can have their pictures!" Mahiru smiled.

"I can't wait Mahiru, thank you!" Nagito giggled softly.

Once Mahiru had left, the boys took each other's hands and returned to where they were sitting before.

"It's beautiful, don't you think...?" Nagito gently leaned onto Hajime.

"Mm..." Hajime nodded softly. The moon, the water, the fireworks, the brunet agreed with Nagito completely. He then looked over to the white haired boy and smiled, "I think there's something else that's beautiful here as well..."

Nagito looked over to the brunet as well, catching on to what he meant. He blushed, averting his eyes as he chuckled softly, "oh Hajime, you're... you're very smooth..."

Hajime giggled and held Nagito close, "I mean it Ko, I really do..."

Nagito smiled, "when we're able to return from here, I wanna take you to so many fireworks festivals..."

"So you can see me in a yukata?" Hajime chuckled softly.

Nagito chuckled as well, "mm... partly, but mostly because I like seeing how happy you are."

"Really?" Hajime blushed softly.

"Yeah, your smile just seems to light up here Hajime, and it makes me happy too," Nagito gently kissed the brunet beside him.

"I'm glad I can do that..." Hajime's blush deepened, "really, it... it makes me feel important, thank you Nagito..."

"Ah, no need to thank me Hajime! I'm just telling you the truth!" Nagito smiled.

Hajime hugged the pale boy close. He wasn't afraid to admit that both of the boys needed each other. If Hajime didn't have Nagito with him, he wouldn't know what to do. Even when Nagito seemed to be almost unhinged at times, the brunet knew that that's what he initially needed. Hajime might've started to lean into Nagito's ideology about hope and despair, but not exactly how obsessed Nagito was with it in the past. Instead, it was more like hope and despair are different sides of the same coin and without one, you can't have the other. So no one was trying to intentionally cause either, just letting both hope and despair balance themselves out.

After a while, the fireworks started to die down as they slowly ran out. Slowly but surely, everyone started to head back to their cottages for the night, while some of the others stayed back to help clean up. Nagito and Hajime were on firework duty, bringing all the extras back to the supermarket. Once everything was all taken care of, the boys said goodnight to everyone else who was still out, then returned to their cottage.

After Nagito and Hajime entered their cottage, the white haired boy immediately hugged the brunet close, pushing him against the door.

Hajime jumped a little, "ah- Nagito... is everything ok...?"

"Mhm... I just had a really good time tonight," Nagito giggled softly.

"Y-yeah, but that doesn't explain this..." Hajime mumbled, blushing a bit.

"Ah, it's ok Hajime, I just want some kisses..." Nagito said softly, leaning towards the brunet.

Hajime relaxed a little, wrapping his arms around Nagito and pulling him into a kiss like he wanted. The white haired boy smiled softly, gladly returning the kiss. Nagito leaned back from the wall, letting Hajime stand up straight. The brunet gently rubbed Nagito's sides, pulling away for a moment to nuzzle the white haired boy. Nagito kissed Hajime's cheek gently, then went to untie his yukata. Hajime pouted a bit as Nagito moved away, but he soon winced, holding his head a bit.

Nagito immediately stopped and looked back to the brunet, "is everything ok Hajime?"

"Yeah, I just... my head hurts..." Hajime mumbled.

"Should I go get Mikan?" Nagito asked, moving back over to the brunet.

Hajime shook his head, "no, no... it's ok, it's probably just a small headache..."

"Ok, how about this," Nagito went over to the dresser, "I'll get dressed, then I'll go see if Mikan is awake and get you some medicine for your head, how's that?"

"You don't have to Nagito-"

"I insist," Nagito cut Hajime off, "you just lay down, ok?"

Hajime sighed a little, before nodding and sitting on the bed. Nagito continued with getting changed, getting some pyjamas on and then going to pull some slippers on. Before he leaves he walks over to Hajime, giving him a gentle kiss on the top of his head, then he left.

Hajime laid back on the bed while Nagito was gone. His head felt like it was pulsing from all the pain. He grumbled, holding his head and rolling onto his side. Hajime had no idea why his head was hurting so bad, but he just wanted it all to stop.

Soon Nagito returned to the cottage, pain killers in hand. He went over to the bed where Hajime laid, gently rubbing the brunet’s side. Hajime groaned softly and rolled over, smiling when he saw Nagito.

“Hey...” Nagito smiled softly, speaking in a soft, hushed tone, “I got some medicine from Mikan, I’ll get you some water, ok?”

Hajime nodded a bit, “Mhm... thank you Nagito...”

“Ah, no need to thank me... I’m just making sure you’re ok...” Nagito said softly, returning to the bed with some water and a capsule from Mikan.

Hajime took the pill with the water, then set the cup down on the bedside table. Once the brunet was done, Nagito went to the dresser and grabbed some pyjamas for Hajime. He returned to the brunet and sat him up, getting his yukata off and dressing Hajime. 

“Nagito, you don’t have to do this...” Hajime said softly, laying back down with the white haired boy.

“I know, but I want to,” Nagito smiled, “I wanna help you in any way I can...”

The brunet gently hugged Nagito close, “you’re really nice Nagito, thank you...”

“Ah... you really think so Hajime...?” The white haired boy asked, gently pulling the blanket over the two of them. 

“Mhm...” Hajime nodded, yawning softly. The medicine seemed to be kicking in, “I love you so much Nagito... ok...?”

“Mm... I love you too Hajime... you rest well now, ok?” Nagito gently caressed the brunet’s cheek, then gave him one last kiss on the cheek.

“Mhm.. goodnight...” Hajime mumbled, before yawning and falling asleep.

The white haired boy smiled softly once Hajime fell asleep, before he curled up to the brunet and closed his eyes. Tomorrow was a new day, hopefully they’d be ok.


	3. Chapter 3

The medication seemed to have worked pretty well, as Hajime slept through the night pretty peacefully. When he woke though, Nagito wasn't there. It started to worry the brunet a little bit. He stood up and was about to go look for him, until the door opened and in walked the white haired boy.

"Ah, good morning Hajime," Nagito smiled, "I'm sorry if I worried you, but I just went to go get some food!" He said, raising the tray in his hands a bit.

"Oh, Nagito... you didn't have to, I could've gone to the restaurant by myself..." Hajime said softly.

"No need to worry Hajime, not at all," Nagito said softly, putting the tray of food on the counter, "I can even do most of our work today, I don't want you to push yourself too hard."

"Nagito, you don't have to worry, really..." Hajime said, "plus, all that work would be too much for you to do alone..."

"Hm... if you insist then," Nagito said, "but you need to eat, come here."

Hajime went over to the counter where the white haired boy, then smiled softly, "thank you though, this looks good..."

"No need to thank me Hajime, I just wanted to make sure you got some food into you," Nagito smiled as well.

"Are you buttering me up for something?" Hajime chuckled, taking some of the food and eating.

"Well, Mikan did talk to me today..." Nagito said, taking some food for himself.

"Like what Makoto was saying?" Hajime looked over to him.

Nagito nodded, "Yep, I'll be spending some time in the hospital on the third island for a bit."

"Am I allowed to be with you?" Hajime asked.

"Yeah, she just doesn't want you there all the time because I'm more likely to get sick," Nagito said, "but with our combined luck I'm sure it'd be fine."

"But we should still listen to her just in case, right?" Hajime pushed the tray away, before going to get some clothes.

"Yeah, I guess..." Nagito chuckled softly.

Hajime got changed, then took Nagito's hand and brought him into the bathroom, "I'm feeling much better, we'll get to work and then we can spend some time together before you have to head off with Mikan, sound good?"

Nagito smiled softly, "same old Hajime..." he chuckled, "mhm, sounds great..."

The two boys got ready as usual, and went off for the day. Nagito pulled his hair back as him and Hajime went down to the restaurant, their choice spot for the beginning of the day and found a spot for both of them to sit. Most of their work had to do with filing and what not, basically all the boring stuff. So they would just set up camp somewhere for the day and would get going. 

Hajime was pretty good with staying on track and getting everything done, but Nagito wasn't a fan of sitting still for such a long time while working. So for the most part, Nagito would run things back and forth doing other tasks. When boats came by to drop things off or pick things up, Nagito was usually the one to get the goods.

When Nagito had time, he would stay by Hajime, gently hugging him and whispering sweet nothings into his ear. He hoped he wasn't bothering the brunet at all, but it seemed he wasn't as Hajime would pause every so often to reciprocate Nagito's advances.

Nagito looked over to Hajime's laptop once they had a break, "why don't you take a break? I don't want the computer screen to give you another headache."

Hajime looked back to the pale boy for a moment, "don't worry Nagito, I'm almost done. Plus, I've actually been feeling pretty good so far today, so I don't think you have to worry," he said, giving Nagito a soft smile.

"Well then is there any way I can help?" Nagito sat down beside the brunet, leaning on his hand.

"I'll be ok Nagito, I'll be all done soon," Hajime said softly, gently wrapping his arm around Nagito's waist and pulling him close.

"Are you positive?" Nagito asked, reaching down and gently taking Hajime's hand.

"Mhm, don't worry..." Hajime looked to Nagito, gently kissing his cheek.

Nagito relented, sighing a bit and leaning onto Hajime. He was glad he got the kiss, but he knew the brunet was working hard, sometimes a little too hard. Nagito knew he probably wouldn't be able to do much, but he wanted to help. But for now, he just stayed quiet, not wanting to bother Hajime too much. 

Once the brunet finished, he closed his laptop and leaned forward on his elbows with a huff. Nagito sat up and looked to him, "you ok?" He asked, gently rubbing Hajime's back.

"Yep, it's all done so that's good right?" Hajime leaned onto his arms, looking over to the pale boy.

"Yeah, I guess... do you wanna just chill out for a bit?" Nagito asked, leaning onto his hand.

"Oh no, I'm ok, I wanna spend time with you while I still can Nagito," Hajime sat up, stretching out a bit.

"Are you sure Hajime? You're probably pretty tired..." Nagito said, standing up and stepping behind Hajime, gently hugging the brunet.

"I'm fine Nagito, trust me," Hajime gently took Nagito's arms and hugged him back.

"I don't mean to doubt your words Hajime, but I don't think so..." Nagito shook his head.

Hajime sighed softly, "just for today Nagito, we can go have some fun and then I'll rest tomorrow, ok?"

"Hm..." Nagito stood back a bit to think, then leaned forward to hug Hajime again, "fine, but you have to promise me to get lots of rest tonight..."

"I'll do my best, but I think it won't be as easy without you..." Hajime whined a bit, then stood up.

"I'm sorry Hajime... but I'll be getting better because of this, right?" Nagito gently took Hajime's hand.

"Mhm, I bet you'll feel much better once you get started," Hajime smiled softly.

"Oh I hope so, I don't wanna be in there anymore than I have to be!" Nagito chuckled softly.

Hajime chuckled as well, bringing Nagito outside the restaurant, "is there anywhere you wanna go?"

"Hm... what about the library?" Nagito suggested, "maybe we could find a nice book or something."

"Aren't all the books in foreign languages though?" Hajime asked.

"I can probably read a few," Nagito smiled.

"Oh, you know other languages?" Hajime stopped for a moment, his eyes widening a bit, "why didn't you ever tell me that?" He chuckled softly.

"Ah, I thought I must've in the past, guess I hadn't," Nagito chuckled as well, "since I come from a wealthy family, my parents paid for the best education I could get when I was younger, and in that education I learned a few languages."

"You say it like it's no big deal," Hajime scoffed a bit, "that's really cool Nagito, yknow?"

"You think so?" Nagito smiled softly, "then how about I read to you, does that sound ok?"

"If that's what you wanna do," Hajime rubbed the pale boy's back gently.

"Of course, I'd love to read with you Hajime!" Nagito said, taking Hajime's hand and hurrying off to the 2nd island.

Once they got to the library, Nagito hurried inside and started to look around. Once he found things he knew he could read, he looked back to Hajime, "what genres do you like Hajime?"

"Mm... I like adventure, mysteries, that kind of stuff yknow?" Hajime said, watching as Nagito hurried to grab a ladder. 

Nagito climbed up the ladder, looking at all the books at their disposal. The pale boy gently traced his finger along the spines of the books, reading out all the titles quietly to himself. He kept going, slowly leaning out towards the end or the shelf. Though he went a little too far as he lost his footing on the ladder. Nagito tried to grab onto a book or something to stop himself from falling, but the book and many more came tumbling down with him. Hajime perked up when Nagito fell, running over to help him.

"Nagito oh my god, are you ok?!" Hajime knelt down to where Nagito was, surrounded by a pile of books.

Nagito sat up a bit and chuckled softly, "ah, I'm ok Hajime... but I think I found our book!" He smiled, holding the book in his hand up.

"Oh, what's this?" Hajime sat down, looking at the book.

"It's fantasy, so I hope you're ok with that," Nagito said, turning the book over to read the back, "but it has mystery and adventure elements! The two main characters travel throughout the land to figure out who's killing nobles of different kingdoms, how does that sound?"

"That does sound interesting..." Hajime smiled softly.

"Then it's decided!" Nagito smiled, then looked at the pile of books around them, "but I guess we should clean this stuff up first, huh?"

"Yeah," Hajime chuckled softly, "you're ok though, right?"

"Oh yeah!" Nagito nodded, "surprisingly the books cushioned the fall..."

"Alright then... where should we start...?" Hajime looked around.

"Mm... maybe I'll grab a few to read for myself..." Nagito set the book they'd already picked out aside, then went back into the pile of books.

Hajime watched as Nagito dug through the books, examining all the covers and reading the descriptions on the back. He wished he could read them too, maybe he could help pick some out. 

Once Nagito had a decent amount of books set aside, Hajime stepped in to help him put the books away.

"Pick out some good ones?" Hajime asked.

"Yeah, I bet I'll be able to keep myself pretty occupied," Nagito chuckled softly. He grabbed a couple books and looked to Hajime, "do you think you could give me a boost?" 

Hajime nodded and wrapped his arms around Nagito's waist, then lifted him so he could put more books away. Once all the books were back, the brunet set Nagito down, then went to help him with the books he was taking for himself.

"Where do you wanna read?" Hajime asked.

"Hm... somewhere comfy probably..." Nagito said, "you wanna go find a tree in Jabberwock park?"

"That sounds nice," Hajime smiled, taking some of the books from the pile Nagito had. 

"Great, then let's go!" Nagito said, walking back towards the central island.

The boys went to Jabberwock park, looking around to all the trees. One tree in particular caught Nagito's eyes though. He looked to see Kazuichi, Peko, and Fuyuhiko already cuddling under one of the trees.

Nagito looked back to Hajime, "should we maybe go somewhere else?"

"Mm... I'm sure we won't disturb them if we sit far enough away..." Hajime said softly.

"They look quite cute..." Nagito chuckled, walking along the other side of the park.

"Mm... not as cute as you though," Hajime chuckled as well, elbowing Nagito in the side gently.

"Oh shush..." Nagito blushed. Then he found a nice tree with a decent amount of shade, then he hurried over and left Hajime to follow behind.

Once Hajime had settled down beside Nagito, the white haired boy took the book they were gonna read out. Then he looked to the brunet beside him, smiling softly, "you get comfy Hajime, I bet we'll enjoy the book!"

Hajime smiled, then leaned onto Nagito gently. Then the pale boy opened the book and his face lit up when observed the text. The brunet couldn't read it at all, but he assumed that it must be good. Then Nagito started to read softly, translating everything for Hajime pretty well. And the brunet soon found ou why Nagito seemed so excited to read this particular book. Hajime found it quite interesting and he was excited to hear more. He rested his chin on Nagito's shoulder gently and looked at the text. Maybe if he listened to Nagito read for long enough, he'd start to understand the text.

Though eventually, Hajime's eyes began to grow heavy. It's not that Nagito was boring him, his voice was just really soothing. He tried to keep his eyes open, but as he shifted onto his cheek on Nagito, his eyes seemed to close on their own.

Nagito seemed to notice the brunet had fallen asleep, causing him to chuckle a bit as he marked the page they stopped at and set the book down, "Ah, have I bored you Hajime?"

Nagito didn't move for a bit, leaving Hajime to rest for a moment while he figured out what to do. The pale boy didn't want to wake the brunet, but he had to find a way to move all the books they gathered while also carrying Hajime back to their cottage. 

"Hm... I guess the books can wait..." Nagito said softly, gently sitting up a bit.

The pale boy gently shifted Hajime so he was leaning up against the tree. Then he gently wrapped his arms around the brunet and lifted him up. He started the make his way back towards the bridge to the first island, only to be stopped by the trio he and Hajime had seen before.

"Did you put Hajime to sleep?" Fuyuhiko chuckled a bit.

"It seems so," Nagito smiled, "though I have to leave all the books we picked out behind for now, hopefully nothing happens to them while I'm gone..."

"Who says you have to leave them?" Kazuichi asked, "we can help!"

"Ah, you mean it? That'd be a big help, thank you for offering!" Nagito said softly.

"Where are all your books?" Kazuichi looked around, before perking up when he saw them under the tree, "we'll be just a sec, you hold on dude!"

Nagito smiled softly as the three of them offered to help. He looked to the brunet in his arms, who was comfortably sleeping against him, "I knew you needed a break..."

When Fuyuhiko, Peko, and Kazuichi returned with books in hand, Nagito looked over to them, "you guys are so kind, thank you so much!"

"Don't worry Nagito, you both already help us a lot when you have the time, so we're fine with this," Peko smiled softly.

"Yeah! You don't have to worry at all!" Kazuichi smiled.

Then the four started to make their way back to the cottages with Hajime in tow. They were all pretty quiet, mostly as to not disturb Hajime. When they got back, Nagito kicked his hip out a bit so Peko could reach into his pocket and grab his key. She held the books in one hand, while handling the key and the door with the other. Once the door was open, Peko stepped to the side and allowed Nagito to enter first. The pale boy brought Hajime to the bed and laid him down, pulling the blankets over him and giving him a small kiss on the forehead. Then he returned to the other three, taking the books from them and putting them on the counter.

"Thanks again..." Nagito smiled softly, looking back to the others.

"No problem, we'll see you for dinner tonight ok?" Fuyuhiko said.

"Mhm! Bye guys!" Nagito waved.

The three said goodbye, then left, leaving Nagito with Hajime. The pale boy sat on the bed beside the brunet, gently rubbing his side. He had no intention of waking Hajime, but it seemed Nagito had done exactly that. The brunet stirred a little as he rolled onto his side, his eyes opening slowly.

Nagito flinched a little bit, "ah- I'm so sorry Hajime! I should've left you along to sleep, is there anything I can do to repay you? I'll do anything!"

Hajime was barely even awake as he jumped a bit, "oh, Nagito... it's fine don't worry, I shouldn't have fallen asleep myself..."

"No, no! I should've found something more fun for use to do, I'm sorry!" Nagito smiled, waving his hands in front of his chest.

"Hey, hey..." Hajime sat up, gently taking Nagito's hand, "it's not your fault Nagito... I was really enjoying the story, trust me..." The brunet bit his lip, "I just- I was pretty tired..." he sighed, averting his eyes. He never liked to admit that he was running out of steam, the others needed him.

"Ah... you should've said something then Hajime, we could've done something much more interesting, or we could've even just rested!" Nagito said softly.

"No, I wanted to do something that you wanted to do!" Hajime said, "I just- jeez, I'm sorry Nagito... I didn't mean to give you the wrong idea.."

"It's fine Hajime, don't worry..." Nagito smiled, "but next time if you need rest, let me know, ok?"

"Mm..." Hajime nodded, "I will..."

Once Hajime was up and out of bed, he went with Nagito to the restaurent for dinner. The pale boy went ahead and got his food, meeting up with everyone at their usual table with Hajime following behind. The two settled down at the table, getting in on the conversation.

"So Nagito, I hear you and Hajime are gonna be apart for a bit?" Akane leaned on her hand.

"Ah, yes, but I'm going to get better!" Nagito smiled, "we'll have to spend some time apart, but Hajime promised he'd visit me!"

"We can visit too right? Ibuki wants to visit!" Ibuki asked.

"Of course," Nagito chuckled, "it's not like I'm only limiting it to Hajime!"

"Great! Ibuki's gonna visit you lots!" Ibuki giggled.

Nagito smiled, "I look forward then!"

After dinner was over, Mikan went over to Nagito, "Ah... Nagito...?"

"Is it time to go?" Nagito smiled softly.

Mikan nodded, "y-yeah, is that ok...?"

"Of course! Are you coming Hajime?" Nagito asked.

"Yeah, hold on!" Hajime said, following the two out of the restaurant.

Mikan brought the two over to the hospital on the second island, and went to find all the supplies Makoto had sent her. While they waited, Hajime and Nagito sat in one of the rooms.

"Ah- we forgot the books, didn't we?" Nagito chuckled softly.

"Don't worry, I can get them later..." Hajime rubbed Nagito's back, "I'll bring the, back before I go to bed ok?"

"Just be careful, all the books together are heavy, I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself Hajime," Nagito smiled, leaning on the brunet gently. 

"I'll be fine, I can see if I have a bag or something lying around," Hajime said softly, "and if not, I wouldn't mind making a couple trips," 

"Me neither," Nagito chuckled softly, "just as long as you're safe about it, then I'm fine with whatever..."

Then Mikan returned with everything she needed, rejoining the boys in the corner of the room.

"A-Are you ready Nagito?" Mikan asked.

"Mhm," Nagito nodded, smiling softly.

Hajime stepped out of the way for Mikan and she took his place beside Nagito. She took the IV bag she had with her and hung it up, then removed Nagito's jacket. Then she sanitized the area and tied the tourniquet onto his arm so she could get a vein popping up. Once she had it, she took the needle in her hand and carefully inserted it into his arm. Nagito didn't flinch much, he was pretty used to being poked by needles. Once the IV was in, Mikan removed the needle.

"There we go... y-you should be good for tonight," she smiled softly.

"Thank you Mikan..." Nagito returned the smile.

"Now, I'll go get your books for you ok?" Hajime smiled, kissing the white haired boy's forehead softly, "I'll get you some clothes too while I'm at it."

"Sounds good Hajime," Nagito hugged Hajime around the waist gently, then let go of him so he could go.

Hajime returned to his and Nagito's cottage pretty quickly, he didn't want to leave the two over at the hospital waiting. He went digging around in the closet, hoping he'd find a bag or something.

Eventually the brunet pulled out a messenger bag, it'd work for now. Hajime tossed the bag onto the bed, then went to get Nagito some clothes for the next few days. Now came to packing the bag. Hajime knew he wouldn't be able to fit all the books in there, but he was fine with carrying some. So the brunet packed the clothes, then stuffed as many books in the bag as he could. Once it was full, Hajime put the bag on and grabbed the rest of the books in his hand, then left the cottage and hurried back to the hospital.

When he returned, he entered the room to Nagito laid on his side while Mikan rubbed his side.

"Hey, I'm back..." Hajime said softly.

"Oh, h-hello Hajime..." Mikan turned to the brunet who was putting his things down.

"Is everything ok?" Hajime asked, moving over to the bedside.

"Yeah, Nagito was j-just a little sick while you were gone..." Mikan said softly.

"Oh, hello Hajime..." Nagito smiled once the brunet came into view.

"Hey..." Hajime smiled softly, sitting beside Mikan and leaning over to the pale boy.

"You don't need to worry about me... this is normal," Nagito said softly, sitting up gently.

"I know, I just wanted to make sure..." Hajime said, taking Nagito's hand gently.

“Are you... are you ready for this?” Nagito asked.

“What do you mean? I’m not the one going through this,” Hajime said softly.

“Well, true... but I just don’t want to worry you Hajime,” Nagito said, “it’s probably gonna be pretty ugly, I just really don’t wanna worry you...”

“It’ll be fine, trust me,” Hajime squeezed Nagito’s hand softly, “I’ll be here for you every step of the way, I promise Nagito...”

Nagito smiled softly, “alright, if you really promise...”

“I do,” Hajime said softly, gently hugging the pale boy.

“Mm... I love you Hajime...” Nagito laid his cheek on Hajime’s shoulder.

“I love you too Nagito, so much...” Hajime whispered, holding Nagito close.


	4. Chapter 4

Hajime was a little sad that he had to return to his cottage alone that night. Though the walk back wasn't made any better as his headache returned. He sighed, hopefully that medicine stuff Mikan gave him would work again.

Once Hajime got back, he immediately looked for that medicine for his head and took it as fast as he could to get relief.

Then he flopped onto the bed, would a pillow be able to substitute for Nagito? Probably not that well, but he didn't have much of a choice. Then he got thinking, Ibuki's probably gonna need help tomorrow since Mikan will be with Nagito right? Hajime could probably help out. But then that'd mean he'd have even more work on top of his usual work with Nagito. He sighed, he wanted to leave time to see Nagito too, but he didn't know what to do. 

He figured for the night he could just sleep on it, he was sure something would come to him in the morning. 

When Hajime woke up in the morning, he nearly forgot Nagito wasn't there, but he quickly remembered that he had lots of work to do and hurried off to the restaurant.

Hajime greeted everyone at the table, but was really more focused on finishing his food and getting a move on. The faster he finished the more time he'd have with Nagito.

When he was done, he went to Ibuki, "um, Ibuki? Are you gonna need any help at all with work today?"

"Oh, Ibuki should be fine! Ibuki can get all the work done all by herself!" She smiled.

"Ah, are you sure?" Hajime chuckled softly.

"Mhm! If Ibuki needs help she'll let you know, but right now Ibuki's all good!" Ibuki gave the brunet a thumbs up.

"Oh, ok..." Hajime nodded, "I'll be in the hospital doing some work, so if you need help then just call Mikan, I'll come by and give you a hand."

"Ok! You have fun!" Ibuki smiled, "and tell Mikan Ibuki loves her!"

"Of course, bye," Hajime chuckled softly, waving to Ibuki and heading out.

The brunet hurried back to his cottage with a big smile on his face. Now Hajime could do his work while spending time with Nagito. He grabbed his work bag and his laptop, then dashed off, heading to the 2nd island.

When he arrived and entered the hospital room, Nagito was sat up on his bed, reading a book. He didn't even notice Hajime at first, not until he said something.

"Good book?" Hajime asked, leaning on the doorway.

Nagito perked up, then looked over to the brunet in the doorway. He quickly marked the page and set the book down, then got up and hurried over to the brunet, "Hajime!"

Hajime smiled, hugging Nagito gently, "hey..."

"I missed you..." the pale boy smiled.

"I did too... so much..." Hajime said softly, rubbing Nagito's back. Even if it'd barely been a day since they were apart, they'd been glued to each other for so long that they almost couldn't be apart for too long. 

The two went back over to the bed, "where's Mikan?" Hajime asked, letting Nagito get back in bed.

"Oh, she's just going to grab some breakfast for both of us," Nagito said, "she should be back soon."

"Ah," Hajime nodded, "anyways, how about that book you have there?"

"Oh, this?" Nagito held up the big book, "I started reading it last night, it's been keeping me company for the most part, it's pretty good!"

"That's good," Hajime smiled, "I hope you don't mind if I do some work..."

"Of course not Hajime, do you want any help?" Nagito asked.

"Oh no it's fine, you gotta be resting..." Hajime said softly, getting his laptop out.

"Well I am resting Hajime, I think I can rest and work at the same time," Nagito whined a bit.

"I promise Nagito, it's fine..." Hajime gently took the pale boy's hand, "just as long as you're here I can get through it..."

"You seem quite determined," Nagito chuckled, "then I guess it can't be helped..."

"You don't have to worry..." Hajime said softly, kissing Nagito's hand softly.

Hajime started get to work, typing away on his computer. Mikan returned later with food for both her and Nagito. The pale boy got back up, thanking the purple haired girl and sitting back down. Mikan smiled, setting her food down so she could check on Nagito quickly. 

"E-everything looks good so far," Mikan said, settling down beside Hajime.

"That's good, I'm glad," Nagito smiled, "I'm sure you are too Hajime."

Hajime looked up from his computer, "yeah, I am," he smiled softly, watching Nagito for a moment. He knew it wasn't gonna be like this forever, but he cherished it while they still had it.

Nagito finished his food soon, then leaned over to Hajime, "how's it going so far?"

"Pretty good, you wanna call Makoto with me?" Hajime scooted onto the bed.

"Mhm!" Nagito nodded, leaning onto Hajime gently.

Hajime set the computer onto the bed, then looked to Mikan, "what about you, Mikan? You wanna say hi to Makoto?"

"Ah, s-sure!" Mikan smiled softly.

Hajime smiled and clicked the call button, while the other two gathered on either side of him. 

Soon Makoto picked up and popped onto the screen, smiling when he saw the three, "oh, isn't this a surprise?" He chuckled softly, "how are you three?"

Each of them all exchanged some form of 'good', then Hajime spoke, "so, everything seems to be going good so far, Nagito's being treated for his cancer and yeah..." the brunet chuckled softly, "everything's good right now..."

"That's good," Makoto said, "I assume everyone's getting their work done?"

"Oh yeah, Mikan's excused for now because she's taking care of Nagito, but everyone's been consistent," Hajime nodded.

"Great, it seems I don't have much to discuss then," Makoto chuckled softly.

"Well, maybe not work related," Nagito smirked, "how've you and Byakuya been?" He asked, leaning on Hajime's shoulder. 

That caught Makoto off guard a bit. He blushed softly, quickly averting his eyes, "haha... wh-what do you mean?"

"Oh come on, I may have a rotting brain but I can still deduce that you and Byakuya are totally a thing," Nagito chuckled, "you don't have to hide anything Makoto..."

"Well, uh..." Makoto's blush lessened a bit, "things have been going good... Byakuya actually likes to pamper me sometimes, which I appreciate..." the short brunet said, gently twirling a bit of his hair in his fingers.

"B-Byakuya sounds very kind...!" Mikan said softly.

"Well, he's come quite a long way," Makoto chuckled softly, "he used to be a big grouch, he never really wanted to be around anyone, he'd just cross his arms like this and he'd be like-"

"I'd be like what?" Makoto was cut off by a familiar blond, leaning over his chair.

Makoto jumped, yelping softly as he snapped his head back to Byakuya, "Ah, n-nothing Byakuya, I was just joking!"

Byakuya chuckled softly, "don't worry, I know... is everything going well on Jabberwock island?"

"Yeah, everyone seems to be working well," Makoto smiled.

"Good, I'm glad to hear," Byakuya said, crouching down beside Makoto.

"Well, I guess we'll leave you two together, make sure you guys spend some good quality time together!" Nagito giggled softly.

"Ah- yeah, of course! You get some rest Nagito, ok?" Makoto smiled.

"Oh yeah, I got Hajime and Mikan with me, so I'll be good," Nagito said softly.

"You guys enjoy the rest of your day!" Makoto waved to the three, the hung up.

Hajime sat back a little, taking the computer and put it down on his chair. Mikan stood, telling the boys that she was going to go rest for a bit. Once she was gone, Hajime looked to Nagito, then flopped on top of him.

"Ah! Hajime!" Nagito giggled, hugging the brunet on top of him.

"Mm... I need cuddles from my Nagito..." Hajime whined. 

Nagito smiled softly, looking down to Hajime, "oh... me too Haji... I missed your cuddles so much..."

Hajime rolled onto his side so the boys were facing each other and held the pale boy close. He didn't know how long he'd be able to go without holding Nagito close, especially if things got bad. But right now he just savoured what he was able to do for now, then they would deal with whatever happened from there.

Hajime looked to the boy laying beside him, his eyes were closed. Was he already asleep? Hajime didn't blame him, he was probably pretty tired. He wasn't gonna bother waking him if he was.

Though as he shifted, Nagito's eyes popped open and looked up to Hajime, "ah, I started dozing off, didn't I...?"

"Don't worry about it Nagito, you must be pretty tired anyways..." Hajime rubbed Nagito's back

"Mm... but I want to be able to spend time with you too..." Nagito said, "if I fall asleep, who's to say you won't be here when I wake up...?"

"I promise you that I'll be here for as long as I can..." Hajime said softly, "if you need to rest, I'll be right here..."

"Mm.... I'm still gonna be up as long as I can..." Nagito chuckled softly.

"Alright, I won't fight you about it then..." Hajime chuckled as well.

Nagito gently reached over to Hajime's hand, holding it close and smiling. He didn't have much rhyme or reason, he never really did, the boy just loved to show his affection. He placed gently kisses along each of Hajime's knuckles, sighing happily as he sat back a bit.

"I'm so grateful for you Hajime..." Nagito said softly, sitting up a bit on his elbow, "I have no idea where I'd be without you..."

"I bet you'd be able to get by," Hajime said softly, "a lot of the stuff that you've managed to push past is all you Nagito..."

"But if I hadn't met you I wouldn't have made so many revelations...!" Nagito sat up, "I mean, sure, I would've been able to get through life if the tragedy never happened and if I'd never met you... but you've made me a better person Hajime, you've helped me through so many things and I don't know if you quite know just how much you've helped..."

Hajime blushed softly, not exactly knowing how to respond. For a moment he even almost answered how the pale boy would normally respond, insisting that he couldn't have done that much. But he just sat quietly, looking for how to respond.

"Ah, have I said too much...?" Nagito averted his eyes a bit, biting his lip.

"No no no! It's fine Nagito, you didn't do anything..." Hajime took his hands, "I just... I didn't know I had that much influence on you..."

"I mean it when I say it Hajime," Nagito said softly, "you've changed my life in so many some ways I never even expected..." the pale boy smiled, squeezing Hajime's hands softly.

"You've changed my life as well Nagito..." Hajime returned the smile, "I honestly never really expected to end up falling for you, but once I started to understand you... it all kinda fell into place, I love you Nagito... I really do..."

Nagito scooted forward a little bit, then hugged Hajime, "I love you too Hajime... so so much..."

The two boys sat there quietly for a moment, just enjoying each other's presence. Then Nagito pulled away and looked up to Hajime.

"It's a but stuffy in here... you wanna go somewhere cool? We can talk more there if you want," Nagito smiled softly.

"But don't you need to stay here?" Hajime tilted his head a bit.

"Ah, don't worry, we won't be leaving the hospital," Nagito said, "Mikan let's me wander as long as I stay on hospital grounds."

"Oh, ok then," Hajime stood, taking Nagito's hand and pulling him out of bed.

"Great, I bet you're gonna love it!" Nagito smiled then went to grab his jacket off the back of one of the chairs, pulling it on and zipping it up. Then once he was ready, he looked to the brunet and offered his hand, "ready?" 

Hajime smiled as well, then gently took Nagito's hand, "yeah, let's go."

Nagito lead Hajime out of his room, and down the hall towards the stairs. After they went up to the second floor, Nagito continued down the hall until they reached a ladder, then Hajime stopped behind him.

"What's up here?" Hajime asked, "are you sure this is safe Nagito?" 

"It's up to the roof," Nagito looked back to the brunet, "and of course it's safe, I found it last night and nothing happened to me."

Hajime sighed a bit. He wanted to see what Nagito had to show him, but at the same time he was still a little worried of something happening. But he caved, allowing Nagito to carry on. 

The pale boy started to climb the ladder with Hajime following behind him. Nagito opened the hatch up onto the roof and climbed out onto it, then sat back to wait for Hajime.

Once they were both out on the roof, Nagito took the brunet's hand and walked him to a specific spot on the roof and sat down with him. It was a spot closest to the ocean and it looked absolutely beautiful, definitely somewhere cool like Nagito had said. The sun was going down, so it was a perfect opportunity for watching the stars as they began to peek out alongside the moon. 

"Oh wow... this is pretty..." Hajime said softly, looking out at the ocean.

"Right? I sat here for a while last night after you left, I couldn't sleep..." Nagito said softly.

"I wish I could spend all my time with you like normal..." Hajime sighed, wrapping his arm around Nagito softly, "maybe my headache wouldn't have come back if you were able to come back to the cottage..."

"It came back?" Nagito sat up a bit, "maybe you should get Mikan to check it out."

"Well, obviously not right now, she's resting..." Hajime said, "but if she's not too busy with you I guess it wouldn't hurt..."

"Definitely not, I bet she'd be happy to help!" Nagito smiled, leaning onto Hajime gently.

"Yeah..." the brunet chuckled softly, "I hope she's not too overwhelmed though..."

"Hm... well from what I see not yet, but depending on how luck decides to play itself out it's either going to be a breeze, or get pretty ugly..." Nagito shrugged a bit, "but I guess that's my luck for you," he chuckled softly.

"I hope everything goes well... I don't want you to be in too much pain..." Hajime took Nagito's hand gently.

"I'm sure I'll be ok," Nagito smiled softly, "I don't think you'll have to worry..."

"Oh I hope not..." Hajime hugged Nagito gently, pulling the pale boy into his lap.

Nagito hugged the brunet back, wrapping his arms around Hajime's shoulders, "I could even see if I can convince Mikan to let you stay a few nights maybe..."

"Do you think it'd be safe for you...?" Hajime asked, "I mean, your immune system is going to become worse right?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure if we take the right precautions everything should be ok..." Nagito smiled softly.

"You think so?" Hajime rubbed Nagito's back gently.

"Of course," Nagito said, "you're careful, so I believe everything should be ok..."

"If Mikan says ok then I guess we can..." Hajime smiled softly.

"I'm sure it'll be ok," Nagito said, then laid back beside the brunet, "hey, look at all the stars... aren't they pretty...?"

"Yeah, but not as pretty as you," Hajime chuckled, laying back with the pale boy.

"Shush..." Nagito blushed softly. He ran right into that one, he thought. 

"Aww but I mean it," Hajime rolled on his side to face Nagito, smiling like an idiot.

"Yeah, but shhhhhhhh," Nagito giggled, rolling over to face Hajime as well.

"You don't have a rebuttal to my statement, sounds like I win..." Hajime chuckled, hugging the pale boy close.

"Hm... I guess..." Nagito blushed, averting his eyes.

Hajime pulled one arm away, gently brushing some of Nagito's bangs out of his face and kissing his forehead, "you're so beautiful Nagito, trust me darling..."

Nagito smiled softly, "thank you for being here Hajime, really..." he said softly, "I know I say it a lot, but I mean it..."

"You don't have to thank me Nagito..." Hajime smiled softly, "I'm glad to be here with you..."

The two boys just looked at each other in silence for a moment, enjoying each other's presence. Then Nagito yawned a bit. He rubbed his eyes and cuddled closer to Hajime, closing his eyes.

"Do you think it's time to head back to go to sleep?" Hajime rubbed Nagito's back gently.

"As much as I'd like to say no, I'm really tired..." Nagito mumbled, sitting up a bit.

"It's fine, let's go," Hajime said, getting up and taking Nagito's hand to pull him up.

The two boys returned down to the ladder and into the hotel, then went back to Nagito’s room. The pale boy pulled his jacket off and sat on his bed and opened his arms up for Hajime. The brunet smiled and hugged Nagito, pulling a chair up behind him and sitting down in front of the pale boy.

“I’ll be right here until you fall asleep, ok?” Hajime assured.

“Mhm... thank you Hajime...” Nagito mumbled, leaning his cheek onto Hajime’s shoulder.

Hajime turned his head and gently kissed Nagito, then cradled his head as he laid the white haired boy down gently. Nagito rolled onto his side as Hajime tucked him in and yawned again. 

Hajime sat back down and rubbed the boy’s side, “goodnight Nagito... sleep well, ok...?”

“Mhm... goodnight...” Nagito smiled, then closed his eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Once Nagito was in a pretty deep sleep, the brunet gently removed his hand and stood up. He gave the pale boy one more kiss, then left the room for the night. Hopefully Mikan was up, then hopefully he could get some permission from her.


	5. Chapter 5

Hajime could sleep soundly knowing that he was able to get permission from Mikan for the next day. Him and Nagito would get to spend all day and all night together, just like normal for once. He didn't even decide to go to breakfast that morning, he just wanted to see Nagito.

He quickly packed his things up and pulled a sweater on, then headed off towards the second island again. He actually ended up running into Mikan on his way.

"Oh, g-good morning Hajime!" Mikan waved as the two paused to talk for a moment.

"Morning, how's everything going?" Hajime asked.

"E-everything's been good, I'm just going to get some food for Nagito and I, do you want me to get you some as well?" Mikan offered.

"Ah, if that's ok with you," Hajime said softly.

"O-of course!" Mikan said, "I'll be back soon!"

And with that, the purple haired girl was off. Hajime waved as she headed towards the bridge to the first island, then the brunet continued on his way.

When Hajime arrived, Nagito was still asleep. Though the brunet didn't mind, he just set his things down and sat in the same chair he did yesterday, just quietly watching the pale boy as his chest slowly raised and lowered. Nagito looked surprisingly peaceful while he was sleeping. Hajime couldn't believe that he used to be such a restless sleeper, but now he was just sleeping like a baby.

Though soon the boy started to stir, rolling around a bit before his eyes started to open. He didn't seem to notice Hajime at first, until he actually sat up.

"Hajime...?" Nagito blinked a bit, almost not believing he was there that early.

"Good morning," Hajime smiled softly, "did you sleep well?"

"Yeah... thanks for asking," Nagito smiled as well, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and leaning towards the brunet, "what brings you here so early?"

"Well Mikan might've given me permission to stay tonight..." Hajime took Nagito's hands gently.

"Wait, really?" Nagito smiled, squeezing the brunet's hands. 

Hajime nodded, causing Nagito to gasp and stood up to hug the brunet, but instead he stood a bit too fast, causing him to stumble a bit. Hajime held onto Nagito and made sure he wouldn't fall.

"Everything ok?" Hajime asked, rubbing Nagito's back gently.

"Yeah, I guess I was just a little bit too excited..." Nagito chuckled softly, "I'm good though!"

"Alrighty..." Hajime chuckled, sitting back down and pulling the pale boy into his lap so they could hug.

Nagito seemed to be still half asleep as he lazily laid his head onto Hajime's shoulder. The brunet sat back in the chair and rubbed Nagito's back gently.

"Do you know how things are gonna play out as you start to get better...?" Hajime asked.

"Well, it's probably not gonna be pretty..." Nagito admitted, "but I've already said that... I'm just saying, it's gonna get worse before it's gonna get better. I'm gonna get weaker and it's not gonna be fun... but I don't want you to worry Hajime, ok? It's gonna look like I'm not having a good time a lot of days, but I'm gonna be fine... with time I'm gonna be all better..." the pale boy looked to Hajime.

Hajime frowned a bit, "I know it won't be easy... I'll try not to worry too much, but I can't guarantee anything..."

Nagito gently caressed Hajime's cheeks, "I wish I wouldn't have to worry you so much, you don't need that kind of stress in your life Hajime..."

"It's fine Nagito, this is gonna help you get better..." Hajime said, "I know I shouldn't be worrying, but I just don't want you to be in pain Nagito..."

"Let's just hope that luck is on my side..." Nagito said softly, leaning onto Hajime.

Then Mikan returned with food for her and the boys, making Nagito get off of Hajime so they could eat. Once Hajime was finished, he started to get to work while Mikan changed Nagito's IV. Then the pale boy reached over beside him and grabbed one of his books.

"What book do you have there?" Hajime asked, looking away from his laptop for a moment.

"It's actually a non fiction book," Nagito smiled, "it's all about different kinds of domestic dogs and it talks about stuff like how they were bred, their personality and how to take care of them and stuff!" 

"Oh yeah, you mentioned in the Neo World Program that you had a dog, right?" Hajime closed the lid to his laptop for a moment.

"Yeah, her name was Lucky," Nagito said, "she got hit by a truck when I was younger..."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Nagito..." Hajime frowned a bit.

"She was a really good dog, for a while she was even my best friend..." Nagito smiled a bit, "I would always walk her even though she was a big dog and I was such a small kid... but one day she got distracted by an animal and the leash slipped out of my hand... I really should've had my parents at least help me walk her, then maybe she wouldn't have died..."

"Nagito..." Hajime held the pale boy's hand softly, "it's not your fault... you just loved Lucky a lot, right...?"

"Yeah..." Nagito nodded.

"It was just an accident Nagito, it's fine..." Hajime hugged Nagito gently.

"I mean... it's not like my parents could've done anything anyways..." Nagito chuckled a bit, hugging the brunet back, "they were always busy, so I was the only one that could walk her..."

"See...? You couldn't do anything Nagito..." Hajime rubbed Nagito's back.

"I'm sure it must've been my bad luck, it's too bad it had to affect her though... if I were in her place maybe my good luck would at least have been able to get me out of it instead of taking her..." Nagito said softly.

Nagito was beginning to trail off, just mumbling softly in Hajime's arms. The brunet couldn't make out much, just quietly listening to Nagito. But one phrase seemed to stick out a bit, causing Hajime to back up.

"What did you say...?" Hajime asked.

"Oh, I just said that when I died in the Neo World Program, I kinda hoped that I'd get to see her in the afterlife... but all I saw was darkness until I woke up in my dream, it was strange..." Nagito said softly.

Hajime looked to Nagito, seeing his eyes were growing misty. Though the pale boy was holding them back, not wanting to get upset right now. But Hajime wasn't gonna let that slide.

"Come here Nagito..." Hajime got up and sat on the bed, then pulled Nagito into his lap, "you don't have to worry about anything, I'm right here..."

"I'm fine Hajime... I'm fine," Nagito looked away.

"I can see through that lie Nagito..." Hajime gently guided Nagito's face to him, "it's ok if you're upset, if you need anything I'm right here..."

"Hajime... can I ask you a question...?" Nagito bit his lip.

"Of course..." Hajime rubbed circles on the pale boy's back.

"Did I... did I murder Chiaki...?" Nagito gulped. He was a little afraid to ask the question and even more afraid to make eye contact with Hajime, considering him and Chiaki were best friends.

"Wh-what...?" Hajime could feel himself tearing up just at the mention of her name, "no, no of course not Nagito... she... she was already gone by the time we were even in the Neo World Program..."

"Ah... Hajime I'm so sorry..." Nagito covered his mouth, "I-I know you two were close... and she wasn't bad or anything... I'm sorry Hajime..."

"Nagito... don't worry about it, it's ok..." Hajime bit his lip, "Monokuma tricked us to make us believe Future Foundation was our enemy... you just did what you thought was right..."

"But it still caused so much pain..." Nagito whimpered, "gah- I really am a horrible person, aren't I...?" He smiled rather pitifully, trying to laugh it off.

"Nagito it's fine... you've grown so much from back then..." Hajime said, "your actions from then don't define who you are now, you've reconciled with the class... I don't think you're a horrible person, you've gotten so much better Nagito. Trust me..."

Nagito was quiet for a moment, before he let out a small whine, "I'm so glad you're here Hajime... Please don't ever go anywhere..."

"I won't, I promise..." Hajime reassured, gently tucking a tuft of hair behind Nagito's ear, "would you feel better if you took a small nap...? I'll stay right here with you the whole time..."

"Maybe... I'll try that," Nagito said softly, gently laying his head on the brunet's chest.

"Alright... you sleep well, ok...?" Hajime said softly, gently pulling the blankets overtop both of them.

Nagito made a small noise to confirm he'd heard Hajime, then quietly closed his eyes. The brunet rubbed the pale boy's back gently with one hand, using the other to play with Nagito's hair. That seemed to tire the pale boy pretty quickly, as soon Hajime could hear Nagito snoring softly on top of him. Hajime stayed under Nagito, he could finish his work later. Right now Nagito was stressed and he needed Hajime.

The brunet eventually ended up nodding off himself, only to be woken up when he felt Nagito climb off of him. Hajime opened his eyes, watching as the pale boy got up and entered the bathroom in the room. The brunet stood and followed him, standing outside the door in case Nagito needed anything. He heard retching on the other side of the door. Hajime was almost going to get Mikan, but remembered that she said this was normal. Soon he heard the toilet flush and the sink turn on. Then the door opened, revealing a tired looking Komaeda. 

"Everything ok...?" Hajime asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah, I'm good..." Nagito, rubbing his eyes a bit.

Nagito went back to the bed and flopped onto the bed, before letting out a tiny groan. Hajime returned to the side of the bed and sat down, rubbing his side like Mikan did.

"Hajime I'm fine... you can get back to work..." Nagito mumbled.

"I know... I just want to make sure you're ok," Hajime said softly.

"I'm fine, you get your work done ok? I'll be right here the whole time and I'll be completely fine..." Nagito said, grabbing a different book.

Hajime sighed, he figured he'd just annoy Nagito at this point by constantly asking him if he was ok. He just complied, sitting down to finally start working.

The whole time, both of them didn't say much. Other than the sound of pages being flipped and the tapping of Hajime's keyboard, it was nearly silent between the two. Though when Hajime started to sigh and groan, Nagito definitely took notice.

"What's going on Hajime...?" Nagito closed his book and looked to the brunet.

"Nothing... it's just this stupid headache... it keeps coming back and it's really bothersome..." Hajime said.

"Ok, I think you should really get that checked out by Mikan..." Nagito sat up, giving Hajime a concerned look.

"No no, it's ok... if I take more of that medicine I should be fine," the brunet said, going to reach into his bag.

"But it's reoccurring, that medicine is only temporary!" Nagito stood up, "if you won't get Tsumiki to look at it, then I will!"

"Nagito- it's fine, trust me!" Hajime said.

"I'm already gone!" Nagito said as he left the room to go get Mikan.

Hajime sighed and shook his head. He knew that Nagito had good intentions, but Hajime didn't want to worry him or cause Mikan too much stress. But it seemed he couldn't do much as Nagito quickly returned with the purple haired girl behind him.

"S-so you still have the same headache...?" Mikan asked as she walked over to Hajime.

"Yeah, it's no big deal th-"

Hajime was cut off as Mikan started to examine his head. She covered everywhere she could, even looking over the scar he had from the Kamukura project.

"Hm... i-it seems that there's no way you hurt you head... a-at least that's what the outside suggests," she said, "maybe you should st-stay here for a bit and I can see if I-I can figure out what's going on..."

"Well... I mean it'd let me stay with Nagito for a little longer, right?" Hajime smiled softly.

"Yeah, th-that's right," Mikan smiled as well.

"Well there's the bright side to this, we get to have a sleepover for more than one night," Nagito chuckled.

"I hope this won't cause you too much trouble Mikan," Hajime said. 

"N-no! It's ok Hajime," Mikan said, "I-I'm the ultimate nurse for a reason, I can take both of you!"

"Of course, I just thought because Nagito needs so much attention that-"

Hajime was cut off when Nagito took his hand, smiling a bit, "you don't have to worry Hajime, Mikan is happy to help."

Hajime exhaled softly, then nodded, "ok, I guess I'll calm down then," he chuckled a bit.

"Come rest Hajime, I feel like you could use it," Nagito said softly, bringing the brunet back to the bed.

Hajime let Nagito pull him to the bed, letting the pale boy sit him down. Then Nagito crawled into the bed and pulled the brunet onto his chest. The white haired boy gently ran his fingers brought Hajime's brown locks, kissing the top of his head gently. He figured the brunet had already done lots for him, so Nagito wanted to return the favour.

"Is this ok...?" Nagito asked, looking down to the brunet.

"Yeah, it's actually kinda nice..." Hajime said softly.

"Good," Nagito smiled, "I'm glad I can offer some relaxation Hajime..."

"Does it help your head at all...?" Nagito asked as he continued to play with the brunet's hair.

"A little bit, thank you Nagito..." Hajime said softly.

"Don't worry about it Hajime... if I can help, I'll do whatever I can..." Nagito placed another kiss on top of the brunet's head.

"Well it's not like you really have to try that hard," Hajime chuckled softly.

Nagito blushed softly, "that's quite kind of you Hajime..."

"I mean it," Hajime smiled, "you make me happy really easy Nagito..."

Nagito smiled a little as well, "that's quite an honour Hajime... I like seeing you happy..."

"Just like I like seeing you happy Nagito..." Hajime said, closing his eyes.

"Mm... are you tired Hajime...?" Nagito asked.

"Oh... me...?" Hajime's eyes opened his eyes back up, "heh, I didn't think so... but this might put me to sleep... but I also have work..."

"You're not doing work on a computer while your head is bothering you," Nagito said, "I can take over for you if you want."

"But you're the one that's supposed to be resting in the first place," Hajime sat up a little.

"I can still work Hajime, I'm not the one with a headache," Nagito reached for Hajime's laptop, "I know it's hard to believe, but I'm not useless right now..."

"Th-thats not to what I-!"

"It's fine Hajime, I can understand why you'd see me like that," Nagito smiled, chuckling softly.

"Nagito, why are you acting like this all of a sudden?!" Hajime got off of Nagito.

"Like what?" Nagito looked to Hajime.

"Ah- you don't realize it...?" Hajime asked.

"I don't think I'm quite following Hajime, apologies for my incompetence..." Nagito chuckled.

"Have... have you learned nothing...?" Hajime was pretty shocked. Nagito was doing so well, yet somehow he was going right back to his self deprication, "you... you're acting like how you were on the island..."

"I am...?" Nagito blinked, "ah, I'm so incompetent I even failed to notice my own faults," he chuckled softly.

"Y-you're not incompetent!" Hajime grabbed Nagito's hands, "sure I might need to remind you more often, but that doesn't mean you've failed at recovery Nagito..."

"Are you sure about that Hajime...?" Nagito raised an eyebrow.

"I'm positive," Hajime said, "recovery isn't a linear process and old habits are hard to get rid of, if you've started making these comments again I'm more than happy to help you out again..."

"Ah, is this your ultimate psychologist talent showing through?" Nagito chuckled, then sighed softly, "I appreciate your patience with me Hajime, really... especially with everything else going on with me..."

Hajime chuckled softly, "it might be showing a little bit... but I mean it, I'm here for you to the end."

"And I am here for you, Hajime," Nagito smiled, "so that's why I'm taking over with your work for you," he chuckled.

"Nagito, you really don't have to," Hajime sighed, though he was still smiling.

"I'm going to," Nagito said, grabbing Hajime's laptop, "it's your turn to rest now Hajime, get comfy!"

The brunet smiled a bit, figuring he wasn't going to change Nagito's mind. So he just laid down, facing the pale boy who was looking at all the stuff Hajime was working on.

"Ah, ok I think I get it..." Nagito said softly, "I'll have it done for you soon Hajime, I promise..."

Hajime nodded, then leaned onto Nagito softly. He listened to the gentle tapping noises of the keyboard as Nagito was already getting down to work. It was almost soothing in a way, even if his head was hurting, Nagito's work slowly lulled him off to sleep.

Though as he slowly shifted into his dream world, something was off. It felt like Hajime was falling. He could see a light he was falling away from, and he tried to reach out to it. But every time he struggled, it seemed like it was just getting further and further away. Eventually he felt his back hit some sort of ground. He was completely surrounded by darkness, was this still his dream? He couldn't tell. But he could feel a wave of drowsiness hit him, and he couldn't help it. He could rest for a bit. Hajime closed his eyes, letting the drowsiness take over. But not before he heard a familiar voice echoing throughout,

"Rest well, Hajime Hinata... I'm sure you'll prove to be very useful..."


	6. Chapter 6

Once Nagito had finished up all the work, Hajime was still asleep. The pale boy sat up and stretched a bit, before getting out of the bed to pack the brunet's things up for him. Once he got everything all cleaned up and relatively organized, Mikan poked her head in.

"N-Nagito? I think we have some visitors..." she said.

Nagito stood up, smiling, "really?"

"Yeah, th-they're in the lobby..." Mikan said, giving him a gentle beckon.

Nagito hurried and followed Mikan to the lobby where everyone was waiting. Sonia was the first to notice that him and Mikan had returned, giving them a wave.

"Wow," Nagito smiled as he went over to everyone, "who had to convince everyone to come?" He chuckled softly.

"Ah, no one really, Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko just had the idea and everyone agreed!" Sonia smiled.

"It's nice of you all to come see us, thank you..." Nagito said, letting the others come over to hug him.

"So how've you been feeling man?" Kazuichi asked, leaning up against the reception desk.

"Tired for the most part," Nagito chuckled, "I haven't done this much sleeping in a long time..." 

"It must be pretty relaxing then," the pink haired boy chuckled softly.

"I wish, but not all the time," Nagito said, "a lot of the time I end up napping because I was sick."

"Oh, ouch," Kazuichi chuckled a little awkwardly.

"Do you know where Hajime is?" Gundham asked, quickly changing the topic.

"Oh, he's just asleep in my room, his head has been bothering him for a bit, so Mikan just wants him to stay for a bit so she can figure out what's going on," Nagito explained.

"Ah, send him our regards," Gundham nodded.

"Of course," Nagito smiled.

Nagito and the others sat down and began talking. For the most part it was business stuff, or general wishes of good health. Nagito appreciated them, even if he didn't expect any of those wishes to come true. 

Soon enough, everyone could hear some rustling around coming from further inside the hospital. Nagito stood, "that must be Hajime..."

The pale boy left the lobby for a moment, going to check on Hajime. He poked his head in, watching the brunet sit up in bed.

"Good evening sleepyhead, did you sleep well?" Nagito smiled softly.

"Hm...?" Hajime looked over to him in the doorway.

The white haired boy entered his room, "you want a hand?" 

"Oh, Komaeda..." Hajime nodded, acknowledging the boy in front of him. 

"Is everything ok Hajime?" Nagito sat down beside the brunet, reaching over to his hand.

"I'm fine," Hajime shook his head, standing up without Nagito.

"Ah, ok..." Nagito stood, "the others are out in the lobby if you want to see them, they came to visit..."

The brunet just nodded, already on his way out of the room.

"Hey, Hajime!" Nagito went after him, grabbing his arm to stop him. He whipped the brunet around to face him, grabbing his shoulders, "what's gotten into you?"

"Whatever do you mean, Komaeda? I'm just tired," Hajime said.

"Are you sure? You're talking weird, you're talking like me Hajime," Nagito said, making sure Hajime couldn't go anywhere.

"Positive," Hajime nodded, "now can you please let me go?"

"And why should I do that?" Nagito tilted his head.

"...So I can see the others," Hajime said, "you seem quite possessive Nagito, are you ok?"

"I-I'm fine...!" Nagito bit his lip, "I don't think I was being possessive at all..."

"Then let me go," Hajime narrowed his eyes.

"Of course..." Nagito sighed, stepping back.

As Hajime entered the lobby, Nagito slowly trailed behind. He didn't stay too close, but he knew something wasn't quite right. He couldn't quite put his finger on it yet, but he'd be able to confront Hajime his when the others were gone.

But until then, Nagito just had to play along.

It seemed no one else had noticed Hajime's sudden switch, until Nagito looked closely. Had he... he switched again?? The brunet was sat with everyone else, smiling and laughing along. Though it wasn't his usual smile, but it seemed to fool the others. 

Nagito didn't notice himself start to stare at the brunet across the room. He didn't snap out of it until he felt someone slap his back, causing him to jump.

"What's going on with you Nagito?" Akane chuckled softly.

"Ah- me? I'm fine!" Nagito insisted.

"You seem a bit jumpy," Nekomaru chuckled as well.

"I'm telling you, I'm fine...!" Nagito sighed, going to walk away, only to be stopped by Mikan.

"N-Nagito, how about we step out for a moment...?" She suggested.

"I don't need to step back, I'm not acting weird!" Nagito trying to turn around.

"N-no, not about you..." Mikan tilted her head towards Hajime. 

Nagito calmed himself a bit, then nodded, "oh... yeah, of course..."

The two stepped out of the lobby and went down the hall a bit. Then they both leaned against the wall, then looked to each other.

"So you noticed it too...?" Nagito asked.

"Y-yeah..." Mikan nodded.

"I don't have too much knowledge in the medical field, but that can't be because of his head, right...?" Nagito sat on the floor.

Mikan sat beside him, "y-yeah, I don't think that's the reason... or..."

"Or...?" Nagito echoed the purple haired girl.

"Didn't his mannerisms r-remind you of anyone...?" Mikan asked.

Nagito thought for a moment. But once it came to him, his eyes widened, "Kamukura...?"

"Th-that's what I was thinking..." Mikan said.

"What do you think we should do...?" Nagito asked, "I was planning to talk to him after everyone left, but would it even be safe since it's Kamukura?"

"W-we could tell the others..." Mikan suggested.

"They'd be worried... and I don't want them to see Hajime differently if this is the case," Nagito said. He took a deep breath, then sighed, "I'm sure it'll be ok, I mean we're just talking right?"

"T-true... but if anything happens make sure to tell me," Mikan said.

"Of course," Nagito nodded, "but until then, we just gotta play along..."

"Y-yes," Mikan nodded then stood up, offering her hand to Nagito.

The pale boy gladly took Mikan's hand and stood up. Then they both returned back to the lobby to join the others.

"Did you get Nagito all straightened out Mikan?" Kazuichi chuckled softly.

"N-no, we just had a talk!" Mikan said, sitting down in one of the chairs in the lobby.

"And did you really think you were going to do all this mingling without me, Hajime?" Nagito giggled softly, going to sit in the brunet's lap. He was playing up how he acted around the brunet a bit so he could see what was going on with him

"Ah- of course, apologies," Hajime chuckled a bit, resting his hands on Nagito's waist.

It was strange though. Hajime's hands were quite firm, almost forced there, while normally the brunet's touch was soft and gentle. Nagito's fake smile almost faltered for a moment. If this was Kamukura, it'd be trouble. 

"What's this? You seem to be acting quite odd Nagito," Gundham said.

"How so?" Nagito tilted his head.

"Well, you were staring at Hajime from a distance not too long ago, but now you seem pretty clingy," Gundham explained.

Ibuki gasped, "is Nagito jealous?!"

"I-" Nagito blushed, not knowing how to respond.

"Nagito's jealous!" Ibuki giggled.

"No I'm not! I'm just making sure he behaves!" Nagito bit his lip.

"Sounds like something someone who's jealous would say," Peko said.

"I-!" Nagito sighed, "that came out wrong, sorry..."

"We're just teasing!" Ibuki giggled, patting Nagito's back a bit.

The pale boy went quiet, maybe it'd be a better idea to just keep an eye on Hajime. Everyone else dove back into conversation, while Nagito just listened. Yeah, Hajime's speech patterns were definitely different. It was too proper, Hajime spoke pretty proper, but not this proper. Nagito could barely bear to hear it. He was just about ready to drag the brunet out of the room and confront him. But he already was acting strange according to everyone else, so he just continued to stay quiet while he waited.

Nagito could've fallen asleep right there, as he leant forward and onto Hajime's shoulder. As much as he didn't want to, he just needed to rest at least for a moment. 

Peko was the first to notice Nagito dozing off, "hm... I believe Nagito might need some rest," she suggested.

"Ah-" Nagito sat up a bit, "apologies... I'm just a bit tired..." he chuckled softly. This was the perfect time to get everyone else out, so he took the opportunity.

"It's ok! You get some rest Nagito," Ibuki giggled softly.

Everyone said their goodbyes and vacated the hospital. Once everyone was gone, Hajime stood up, still holding onto Nagito. He brought the pale boy back towards his room, not saying a word. They passed by Mikan on the way. She gave a look of concern to Nagito, while the white haired boy just gave a slight nod to try and reassure her.

Once they got to Nagito's room, the white haired boy finally spoke up, "put me down."

"Is there a problem?" Hajime asked.

"Don't act so oblivious, I know what's going on," Nagito crossed his arms.

"Oh really?" Hajime tilted his head, "then why don't you tell me?"

"There's not much I have to say, Kamukura," Nagito narrowed his eyes.

"Ah, is it really that obvious?" Hajime, now revealed as Izuru said as he sat back on the bed.

"Why are you so casual about it?! Where's Hajime?!" Nagito pushed Izuru back onto the bed, holding him by the collar.

"He's asleep," Izuru said, "a similar situation to when he participated in the Kamukura project, this time I just had to wait for the optimal time to take control."

"Optimal time? What the-" Nagito loosened his grip a little bit.

Izuru pushed the pale boy off of him. It wasn't too hard, heck it wasn't hard to do anything for Izuru, "well, I had to wait until he was completely relaxed so I could put him to sleep without him fighting back. And all it took was you taking over his work to put him in this relaxed state."

Nagito's eyes widened as he pulled himself up, "I... I caused this...?"

"Essentially, yes," Izuru nodded.

Nagito was nearly speechless. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, but nothing would come out aside from a couple whines. This was all his fault, the phrase kept repeating in his head. 

"Ah, gone all quiet?" Izuru tilted his head.

"What do you even want...?" Nagito asked, finally speaking up.

"I need to get off this island, away from you," Izuru said.

"From me...?" Nagito raised an eyebrow, "why...?"

"Hajime's simply too stubborn, you're trouble Komaeda," Izuru said, "your luck has been on your side for quite a while, don't you think?"

"Ah-" Nagito was about to answer, but he stayed quiet, refusing to acknowledge his good luck.

"You're going to hurt him Komaeda, and I'm making sure that doesn't happen," Izuru sat back onto the bed, crossing his arms.

"You... you're lying!" Nagito approached the brunet, "Hajime has good luck too, he shouldn't be affected!"

"Our luck is simply artificial, but yours is special. It seems to transcend our many talents, so your luck can very well affect Hajime," Izuru said.

"Just- bring him back! I'm sure we can figure something out!" Nagito said. He didn't want to believe it for one second. Him and Hajime were fine, it was going to be fine.

"No you won't, this is the only way to get both you and Hajime out alive," Izuru said.

"Alive...?" Nagito asked, a little taken aback by this statement, "what... what exactly are you predicting...?"

"The worst stroke of bad luck you've ever experienced, something I'm sure you would've wished for in the past," Izuru stated, "you wouldn't want to hurt Hajime, now would you?"

"O-of course not! But you can't be right, you just can't!" Nagito was starting to raise his voice.

Izuru stood up so he was face to face with the pale boy, "are you trying to defy me, Komaeda?"

"I'm just telling you you're wrong Kamukura," Nagito narrowed his eyes.

"You know my predictions are never wrong," the brunet shook his head.

That was true. Nagito knew all too well from his past as a remnant. Though, he continued to doubt it, there had to be another way out of this.

Nagito went to grab Izuru again, only to be stopped when the brunet grabbed his arms.

Izuru specifically paid attention to Nagito's left forearm and hand, "hm... a mechanical arm... finally got rid of Junko's huh..?"

Nagito was quiet, he couldn't go anywhere. Izuru's grip was rock hard, so even if he tried to move the brunet could still keep him in one place.

"I wonder... what if..." Izuru reached his hand up to Nagito's left wrist, then squeezed. The pale boy never realized just how strong Izuru's grip was until he heard a pop. Somehow the brunet managed to break Nagito's mechanical arm. The pale boy's eyes widened as Izuru let go, watching as the hand portion went limp.

"I'd suggest you get that fixed," Izuru backed off a bit, "for now, I shall be off."

"Ah- no you don't!" Nagito said as the brunet began walking away. He grabbed onto Izuru's sleeve, pushing down his nerves as the brunet looked back at him.

"Do you need me to shoot you again?" Izuru asked, pulling Nagito's hand off of him, "no, it seemed you quite enjoyed that when I did... I'll do whatever I have to to get you off my hands, you're not useful to me, so begone."

"I'm not going to let you leave Kamukura... not until I have Hajime back!" Nagito said.

"Do you really think I'm going to do that so easily?" Izuru asked, "that's quite stupid of you, Komaeda and frankly, I don't want to deal with it, goodbye."

Izuru started walking off rather quickly. Nagito was quick to follow along, nearly running after him as he left the hospital. Of course it was pouring rain out, making everything much harder. The rain turned all the sand and dirt to mud, causing Nagito to slip a little bit. Within minutes Nagito was drenched, but he had to catch up with Izuru.

Izuru was very much aware of the boy following him. He sighed, he just wanted Nagito to give up. Though it seemed it wasn't going to be so easy. The brunet eventually just stopped, letting Nagito catch up to him.

"You want Hajime back, hm?" Izuru asked, realizing that Nagito wasn't going to stop. He just had to get him off his hands.

"Y-yes, please Kamukura I'll do anything!" Nagito said, he didn't want to do absolutely anything, but he was desperate.

"Hm... then you can make my job easier," Izuru said, "stay away from Hajime, I'll be watching. If you really want him to be safe, I'd suggest you listen to me." 

"I will, I... I promise..." Nagito said, sighing softly, "just please... I need Hajime back..."

"Very well..." Izuru nodded, "I'll leave him at his cottage, goodbye."

Nagito watched as Izuru walked off. The pale boy sighed, looking to his broken mechanical arm. He could probably get Kazuichi to fix it. But first Nagito had to return to the hospital to make sure Mikan knew he was ok. He crossed his arms over his chest, the rain was cold and heck, he probably shouldn't have even been out there. But he managed to get Hajime back, so he didn't really care what would happen to him. 

When he returned to the hospital, Mikan was waiting in the lobby for him. She hurried over once she saw him, already holding a towel to dry him off.

"N-Nagito...! What were you d-doing?" Mikan asked, wrapping the towel around him.

Nagito held the towel together with his good hand, smiling a little, "ah... I got Hajime back..."

"You did?" Mikan asked as she brought Nagito back to his room.

"Mhm... but he can't come here anymore..." Nagito said, using the towel to dry his hair a bit.

"Ah- w-why's that?" Mikan grabbed another towel for the pale boy.

"I had to compromise with Izuru... apparently I'm bad news for Hajime..." Nagito sighed, sitting down on the bed, "it was kind of stupid, huh? Izuru's leaving Hajime alone for now, but I can't even see him..."

"B-But how will Izuru know...?" Mikan asked.

"I don't know, but he said he'd be watching... and I don't even want to know what he'll try if I don't fulfill my end of the compromise..." Nagito shook his head.

"Hm... w-well... I'm s-sure we can figure something out N-Nagito..." Mikan said, "I-I don't think this has to be forever... e-especially since you and Hajime love each other s-so much... I-I don't know what I'll be able to do, but I'll t-try to help Nagito..."

"Thank you Mikan, really..." Nagito said softly, standing back up to hug the purple haired girl, "I'm sorry that you have to get involved, but I do appreciate it..."

"Y-you don't have to apologize Nagito," Mikan assured, "i-it's not your fault this happened, even if you think so. T-trust me, I understand how that feels... but I-I want to help, so you don't have to f-feel bad..."

Nagito sighed softly, "right, my apologies..."

"You just get changed and rest, o-ok?" Mikan said softly.

"Ok... could you do me a favour though Mikan...?" Nagito sat back down.

"O-of course I can," Mikan smiled softly.

"Could you perhaps bring Hajime's things back to his cottage..? Of course not now while it's pouring out, but just so he doesn't have to come back to get it..." Nagito asked.

"I-I will, don't worry," Mikan said softly, "and I'll g-go see if Kazuichi can fix your arm too..."

"Thank you..." Nagito sighed, getting up to get some clothes.

"N-no worries Nagito," Mikan said, "I-I don't want to see what'll happen if you try to go against Izuru..."

Nagito pulled his clothes off, tossing them off to the side. It felt much better to have the warmer and dry clothes. Then he returned to the bed and got under all the blankets. While he was getting comfortable, Mikan left the room for a moment, only ri return with an umbrella.

The pale boy noticed and spoke, "you're going now?"

"Y-yeah, it might be rainy, b-but it's better to get this stuff done now," Mikan said.

"Mm... just watch you don't catch a cold!" Nagito smiled softly.

"I-I will, I'll be back soon Nagito!" Mikan said, then left the hospital.

While Mikan was gone, Nagito laid onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He was rethinking his earlier actions, making the pale boy groan to himself. Nagito wished he hadn't been so impulsive, spouting those absolute at Izuru. 'He'd do anything'? Nagito could almost laugh at himself, he knew that was far from the truth. How could Nagito be so stupid? He could barely function with Hajime around, how was he supposed to be away from him indefinitely? He knew Mikan said that they'd try to find a way, but what if they didn't? Nagito didn't want to think about it, but he couldn't stop. The pale boy just rolled over, trying to force the thoughts out of his head.

Soon enough Mikan returned with Kazuichi in tow. Nagito sat up a bit, waving to the two tiredly.

"Hey Nagito!" Kazuichi waved, "so, somethings up with your arm, right?"

"Yeah..." Nagito nodded, lifting his left arm to show the mechanic.

"Ah-" Kaz's eyes widened a bit, "you know, I thought it'd just be a small thing..." he chuckled nervously, "what's you even do...?"

"I just took a bit of a tumble," Nagito chuckled as well.

"This looks like more than just a tumble," Kazuichi said, "but no worries! Nothing I can't handle..."

The pink haired boy began working on fixing Nagito's arm up. He started by removing some of the damaged external bits, then examined the internal damage.

"Hm... it looks like there's a bit of water damage..." Kazuichi mumbled, "seriously dude, what were you doing?"

"Ah..." Nagito bit his lip, "do you promise not to tell anyone...?"

"Not to tell anyone? Is this... how serious is this man...?" Kazuichi asked.

"Well... as serious as a certain long, raven haired fellow..." Nagito chuckled nervously.

"I-Izuru...?" Kazuichi sat back a bit.

"Yeah... it's... it's all good now, but he was the one that did this..." Nagito said.

"I-I wouldn't say all good...!" Mikan spoke up, "I mean, h-he told you that you can't b-be around Hajime! That's not fair a-at all!"

"Well he said I'd end up hurting him with my luck..." Nagito said, "I don't really want to take that risk..."

"I'm sure we'll be able to do something," Kazuichi said, "I mean- I don't think you can just not see Hajime anymore! You guys are insanely close!"

"If you think you can do something, you can try... just please watch out for Kamukura..." Nagito said softly.

"I'm sure it'll be fine Nagito, you got us!" Kazuichi smiled, then got to work on fixing up his arm.

And all the while Hajime was clueless, only now waking up from the whole ordeal.


	7. Chapter 7

Hajime let out a tiny groan as he woke up, rolling onto his side to sit up. Though he was quickly confused. What was he doing back at his cottage? From what he could remember, he was last in the hospital with Nagito, so why and how did he end up back here? He immediately went to the door and was going to leave, only to see his bag full of his things at the door along with a note.

_Hello Hajime! Unfortunately Nagito's gotten a bit more sick than I expected, so for now you'll have to stay back at your cottage for a bit. I'll keep you updated though! You'll be back before you know it._

_\- Mikan_

Hajime sighed when he read the note. He felt horrible, and he wanted to be there for Nagito. But for now he'd respect Mikan's request, as he went to the restaurant to get some food.

Mikan wasn't completely lying in the note when she said Nagito had gotten sick. Most likely from going out in the cold rain, Nagito was curled up in his room, bundled under the blankets. Of course, it made Mikan's job a bit harder, but nothing she couldn't handle.

Even still, Nagito was miserable. He knew he brought it upon himself and he even if he originally didn't care, he was starting to regret his decision.

Though, Mikan was good company. She spent almost all her time in Nagito's room, most of the time they just talked while the purple haired girl kept an eye on Nagito's condition.

"Kazuichi hasn't told anyone, right...?" Nagito asked, sitting up with his blanket wrapped around him.

"No, don't worry," Mikan said softly, "he even s-said he'd come by today..."

"Ah, really...?" Nagito smiled, "Mm... that's good..."

"I-Is it ok if I check your temperature again Nagito...?" Mikan asked. She'd been keeping an eye on Nagito's temperature, he wasn't too warm, but he was definitely a little feverish.

"I'm sorry for being so reckless Mikan, I promise it won't happen again..." Nagito said softly.

"Ah, y-you don't need to apologize to me Nagito..." Mikan said, then stood, "is there a-anything I can get?"

"Mm... I think I'll be ok Mikan... thank you though..." Nagito mumbled, rolling over to get some rest.

Meanwhile, Hajime was trying to find something to do. He didn't have much work to do that day, so he had to occupy himself for the day. He started to wander around the island, everyone else seemed to be occupied so he didn't want to bother them.

He passed by the hospital, he knew Mikan said not to come but he wasn't going to go into the hospital.

But then he saw Kazuichi enter the hospital.

What? If Nagito was sick, then wouldn't Mikan tell everyone not to come? Hajime shook his head and continued on, maybe he was just dropping something off. Yeah, that's probably why. He didn't worry about it at the moment, he was probably overthinking it.

Though when Kazuichi went to the hospital, he intended on staying. He brought some tea for both Nagito and Mikan, then he settled down with them. 

"So, what should we do about Izuru?" Kazuichi crossed his legs.

"I wanna beat him up..." Nagito mumbled, rolling onto his back, "but I don't want to hurt Hajimeeeee..." he whined, covering his face.

"Well... hm..." Kazuichi crossed his arms, then looked to Mikan, "you were with Izuru and Junko longest, right? What was the guy like most of the time?"

"Um... w-well... it's a little fuzzy..." Mikan admitted.

"What if we see if we can get in contact with Ryota...?" Nagito sat up, "I'm sure Makoto would let us talk to him if we asked, right?"

"That's an idea," Kazuichi smiled, pointing to Nagito, "I can grab my laptop, I'll be back!"

The pink haired boy jumped up, then hurried out of the hospital. Though he was first stopped by Hajime, who had been wandering around the area. He was curious, he wanted answers.

"Hey Kazuichi," the brunet greeted as he approached the other boy.

"Oh, hey Hajime," Kazuichi was going to continue to move forward, but Hajime stepped in front of him.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what were you doing at the hospital?" Hajime asked.

"Oh, I was just bringing some tea for Mikan and Nagito!" Kazuichi smiled.

"Mm... ok... just making sure..." Hajime nodded, "ok, sorry about that," the brunet chuckled softly.

"Don't worry Hajime, anyways I gotta go, see ya!" Kazuichi waved, then ran off.

Kazuichi let out a small breath as he got to his cottage. That was a close one. He grabbed his laptop, then hurried back, hoping he wouldn't pass the brunet on his way back.

Thankfully Hajime wasn't anywhere to be found as the pink haired boy entered the hospital again. He went back into Nagito's room, then sat down with the pale boy and Mikan. He opened the computer and called Makoto, waiting for him to pick up.

Soon he popped up onto the screen, smiling softly, "oh, hi guys! Is something up? Where's Hajime?”

"Oh, w-well... this isn't exactly a ch-check in, but is Ryota a-around?" Mikan asked.

"Yeah, I think so! I can see if I can find him if you want," Makoto smiled.

"Yes please Makoto, thank you!" Nagito sniffed a little, smiling as well.

"Ah, is everything ok Nagito?" Makoto stopped for a moment.

"Oh yeah, I just decided to head outside during a storm..." Nagito chuckled softly, "I'll be ok though!"

"Mm... ok, just making sure!" Makoto said, then left for a moment.

Soon, he returned with Ryota in tow, then sat back in front of the computer.

"I found him! I'll leave you guys be ok? I'll see you guys later!" Makoto waved.

The three in the hospital waved to Makoto, then the brunet left.

"Ah, hey guys..." Ryota smiled softly, leaning onto the table the computer was on.

"Hey Ryota! How've you been?" Kazuichi smiled when the boy came up on the screen.

"I've been pretty good, thank you for asking..." Ryota chuckled a bit, "what'd you need me for?"

"We'd like to ask about Kamukura if that's ok with you..." Nagito said, "we were just wondering if you remember more about him than we do."

"Ah- Kamukura... from the tragedy...?" Ryota sat back, his eyes widening a bit.

"Yeah, we just have a bit of a... problem with him, we're just trying to figure out a way to stop him," Nagito explained, shifting a little in his place.

"A problem...?" Ryota asked.

"Yeah... he's trying to take control of Hajime again..." Nagito said.

"Hm..." Ryota fidgeted a bit with his hands as he thought, "...I know real life doesn't exactly work like fiction, where an act of friendship fixes everything... but Kamukura was surrounded by a lot of bad influences and he never really got a chance to learn you know...? I'm not saying it should be your master plan or anything, but I feel like if he was just surrounded by good people like you guys and taught about things like kindness, then maybe you could put things to rest."

"That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea," Kazuichi said, "thanks a lot Ryota! And hey, you should come by to the island sometime, I'm sure Imposter would love to see you!"

The light haired boy smiled at the mention of Imposter, "yeah, I'll see what I can do... I'll see you guys later, ok?"

"Mhm! Bye Ryota!" Kazuichi said, while the other two waved.

They ended the call and Nagito smiled, "well, we have something... but now we need to bring Kamukura back out..."

"I-I'm sure we'll find a way..." Mikan said.

With their plan relatively set, Nagito was left to rest for the day. Kazuichi said goodbye to the two, then went on his way.

Though what he didn't notice, was that Hajime was still there. The brunet had tried to just do something else, but seeing Kazuichi at the hospital was still bothering him. Then when he saw him leave the hospital for a second time, Hajime was confused. He needed to find out what was going on, so he went and entered the hospital to get his answer.

Mikan hadn't even noticed that Hajime had entered until he was standing in the doorway of Nagito's room. She whipped around when she heard a knock, then immediately stood up and went over to him.

"H-Hajime...! You can't be here...!" She said.

"And why not? I saw Kazuichi here, why can't I be here?" Hajime asked, trying to push past Mikan.

"You just- you just can't...!" The purple haired girl said, putting her hands in the doorway to keep the brunet out, "n-not right now at least, b-but soon, I promise...!"

"I just want to see Nagito, please Mikan..." Hajime bit his lip, "I won't be long..."

"I just- not right n-now Hajime..." Mikan said softly, "he's sleeping anyways... I-I'll let you know when a good time is, ok...?"

Hajime sighed, "can I just have a minute...? Just a quick kiss, just something, please..."

Mikan gulped a bit, but moved out of the way, "quick..."

Hajime nodded and entered Nagito's room, hurrying over to the bed and kneeling down. He didn't take long like Mikan advised, gently rubbing Nagito's side and giving him a small kiss on his cheek, "I don't know why I can't be here... but I'll be back soon Nagito, I promise..."

Then he stood, then looked to Mikan, "there I'm done, I'll get out of your way now..."

Then Hajime left without much more of a fuss, leaving Mikan and Nagito alone. The brunet was all out of things to do to distract himself, so he just headed back to his cottage. Maybe a shower would help, he wondered. Yeah, that doesn't sound like a bad idea.

The brunet entered the bathroom and got his things together, but something was off. He passed in front of the mirror, only to make a double take. His eyes widened, Izuru?

Yep, that was indeed Izuru Kamukura in his reflection. Then he started talking.

"Why do you insist on seeing Nagito so much?" Izuru questioned.

"Well I love him obviously, I don't think that's much of a question..." Hajime answered, leaning on the sink a bit.

"Is that so? Even if you know he'll only cause you trouble?" Izuru crossed his arms, "his luck will catch up to you Hajime, and I can't guarantee you'll make it out alive."

"But- but it's his luck, and plus, I have luck as well right?" Hajime tilted his head in confusion.

Izuru sighed, going on to explain to Hajime about Nagito's strange, almost paranormal feats of luck. When he'd finished, Hajime sighed as well.

"Well... I can't just not be around him, I mean I love him Izuru," Hajime said.

"Then if you aren't willing to hold yourself back, then I might just have to take over indefinitely," the raven stated, "it's your choice Hajime, for your own good"

Before Hajime could even answer, Izuru disappeared, leaving only Hajime's reflection staring back at him. The brunet sighed, then went to shower, he'd have to do something, even if it meant risking his control.

When Nagito woke up later, Mikan was still a little frazzled from Hajime's visit earlier. He sat up seeing if he could console her.

"Mikan, what's going on...?" The pale boy asked, watching her pace around the room a bit.

"A-Ah... Hajime saw Kazuichi i-in here and tried t-to get in..." She said, sitting down in front of Nagito.

"Did he...?" Nagito asked.

"Y-yeah... I tried to stop him, b-but he insisted on seeing you..." Mikan said, "i-it wasn't for too long... but still, I-I'm sorry Nagito..."

"Ah- it's ok Mikan! You tried and that's all that matters," Nagito held his hands up, "though I do wonder... would Kamukura try to take control of Hajime again for doing that...?"

"I-I don't think I'd put it past him..." the purple haired girl said softly.

"Maybe then we can try to get through to Kamukura...!" Nagito smiled a bit, "could you maybe see if anything changes when you go to get food?"

"I-I can, but where do we go from there?" Mikan asked, "he'll avoid you l-like the plague..."

"We'll find a way around it, I'm sure..." Nagito said, "but we're just going to have to play it careful I guess..."

When the time to get dinner eventually rolled around, Mikan set out back to the first island. As much as she wanted to set their plan with Izuru into motion, she also hoped that he wouldn't emerge. She just wanted this whole situation to be over so everything could go back to normal. But thankfully when she saw Hajime at the restaurant, everything seemed normal. In fact, he approached her.

"Ah- H-Hajime...!" Mikan looked up to the brunet, "d-do you need something...?"

"Yeah... I just wanted to apologize for my outburst earlier..." Hajime said, "I understand what's going on now, and I'm sorry..."

"Oh, i-it's ok Hajime... you were right to be upset..." Mikan said softly.

"Yeah, but I could've put Nagito in danger..." the brunet sighed, "I'll do my best to do better, I can't guarantee much, but I will try..."

"O-of course..." Mikan nodded, "we're trying to figure things out too... w-we can keep you updated on our plans if you want."

"Sounds good," Hajime smiled a bit, "good luck, I'm sure we'll figure things out..."

"Y-yes, I'll see you soon...!" Mikan said, then headed off to bring dinner back to the hospital.

She returned to Nagito's room and gave him his dinner, then filled him in on what happened at the restaurant. The pale boy smiled, seeming satisfied with what she said.

"Hm... that's good, I'm glad Hajime is ok..." Nagito smiled.

"M-me too..." Mikan smiled, "I told him I'd keep him updated, so he won't totally be in the dark."

"It's good that we can be honest now..." Nagito said, eating the food the purple haired girl got for him.

"I-I agree... it's less stressful," Mikan said.

"And hopefully soon, I can see Hajime all the time again..." Nagito said fondly, "I can't wait..."

Once they were done, Mikan put their dishes off to the side to bring back later, then sat back down to check up on Nagito's condition.

"Hey Mikan, do you ever get lonely here?" Nagito asked.

"Huh...? W-what do you mean?" Mikan stopped for a moment.

"Well, I was thinking that if you get a little while you're here then maybe you should invite Ibuki over! I'm sure you miss her..." the pale boy suggested.

"Hm... that would be nice... w-would that be ok with you Nagito?” Mikan asked.

“Of course, I was the one who suggested it,” Nagito chuckled softly, “and plus, you know Ibuki and I are pretty good friends, so you don’t have to worry about me getting jealous or anything.”

“I-I didn’t think you’d get jealous!” Mikan blushed softly, “I just w-wanted to make sure...”

“You can go ahead Mikan, I’m sure she’ll be wonderful company...” Nagito smiled softly.

The purple haired girl nodded, “yes... I-I’ll invite her tomorrow m-morning,” she said, smiling as well.

With that, Mikan finished checking up on Nagito for the night and wished him goodnight, before going to get ready for bed in the on-call room. That left Nagito in his room, laying on his side and holding a pillow close. As much as he acted like he was willing to play along with Izuru’s little compromise, he hated every part of it. It felt like he was going crazy the longer he was away from Hajime. But he couldn’t leave the hospital. Especially after the whole rain ordeal getting him sicker, Mikan made sure to make it a point for him to stay inside the hospital. And the purple haired girl was keeping Hajime out, so Nagito couldn’t think of any way to actually see the brunet. He groaned, trying to push all his frustrated thoughts away as he rolled onto his side and tried to fall asleep.

Hajime on other hand, had different plans. He did tell Mikan he’d control his attitude, but nothing about not trying to go back to the hospital. Hajime wasn’t really that scared of Izuru, he never really knew him so he couldn’t relate to how the others seemed to freeze at the mention of his name. He had sat in his room for a while until it was relatively late and Hajime could trust that Mikan was asleep.

He got some warmer clothes on for the walk over there, then pulled his shoes on. He just needed to see Nagito for a little bit, that was all.

He then opened the door, setting out for the seemingly forbidden hospital.


	8. Chapter 8

Hajime looked up at the hospital, hesitating a little bit. He was a little nervous about getting caught, but he told himself it'd be fine. He quietly entered, making his way back to Nagito's room. He peeked into the pale boy's room, making sure Mikan wasn't there. Once it was clear, the brunet entered. He went over to Nagito, smiling softly. _Finally, some time alone together._ The brunet reached over to him before the pale boy shifted a little and groaned. Nagito rolled over, half awake as he looked up to the brunet.

"Mikan...? What are you-" Nagito's eyes widened as he realized who it was and he jolted up, coughing a bit in the process. Once he was good though, he looked to the brunet, "Hajime... what are you doing here?!"

"Nagito hey, calm down..." Hajime said softly, "I just wanted to see you, that's all..."

"But you can't be here..." Nagito said, backing up a bit, "I'm don't want to hurt you..."

"You're not going to do anything Nagito, I'm sure Izuru was just trying to mess with you..." Hajime gently taking Nagito's hand.

Nagito squeezed Hajime's hand gently, "but why would Kamukura do that...?"

"I-I don't know..." Hajime shook his head, "but can't we just pretend like it's normal for a bit...?"

"I-" Nagito sighed, looking away, "I'd like to... b-but I just- honestly I'm scared of Kamukura..."

"He can't do anything while I'm here..." Hajime said, "I... I haven't overstepped, have I...?"

"No, no of course not..." Nagito shook his head. He sighed, "I really want to be with you Hajime, I really do... but I don't want to risk you getting hurt..."

"Do you think I care about getting hurt, Nagito? I just want to be with you! If we can find some semblance of normalcy to our situation, I would love it..." Hajime said softly.

"Oh, how I wish any part of my life was normal Hajime..." Nagito chuckled a bit, "I just... I don't want to do this... I really don't want to, but I don't know what to do about it," Nagito shook his head, sniffling softly.

Hajime sat down with the pale boy, "Mikan said you guys have a plan, right?"

"Yeah- but who's to say it'll work? We don't know how Izuru's mind works!" Nagito exclaimed. He wiped his eyes, "I'm so sorry... I really am..."

Hajime gently held Nagito close, hugging him, "you don't have to apologize Nagito, you didn't do anything..."

"But my talent... ugh, you can hardly even call it a talent... it... it's more like a curse..." Nagito held onto Hajime, "it's my talent's fault that Kamukura is concerned, so wouldn't that by default mean it's my responsibility...?"

"No, no of course not!" Hajime said, "you have a talent that you can't necessarily control, Izuru shouldn't be pinning all of this on you..."

"B-but-"

"Don't worry Nagito, we'll figure things out," Hajime rubbed Nagito's back, "but... can we maybe just forget about everything right now...? Just for tonight..."

"I..." Nagito sighed, then nodded, "yeah... I want that, let's do it... I just- I feel like- sorry..." he said, wiping his eyes again.

Hajime shook his head, "it's ok Nagito, you've been under a lot of stress, you can cry..."

Nagito laid his cheek onto Hajime's shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut as if trying to hold his tears in. Though as he opened his eyes, he couldn't hold it back. He tried to be quiet, wanting to get it over with, but he still let a few whimpers slip through. Hajime rubbed his back, leaning back against the wall that the bed was by. Nagito adjusted, burying his face into Hajime's chest to drown out any noises he was making. It broke the brunet's heart with every tiny sob that left the pale boy's body. He wished he could be there for Nagito. But there always seemed to be something else holding him back from being there for Nagito. Work, Kamukura, stress in general, whatever it may be.

Hajime gently kissed the top of Nagito's head, "I'm here for you Nagito... and I wanna help you through all of this, will you let me...?"

Nagito lifted his head and nodded, "y-yeah, no more of this... you've helped me so much Hajime, I don't want to go back to how I was before... no more leaving..."

"Yeah..." Hajime nodded as well, gently caressing Nagito's cheek and wiping his tears, "I'm gonna find a way to make things work, so we can be together as often as possible..."

"And... and I'll do my part too," Nagito said, rubbing his eyes a bit, "I might get in trouble with Izuru, but I think I can deal with him..."

"We'll make things better," Hajime said, shifting so they were both laid down on the pillows, "and that'll start with our first night together in a while..."

"But what about Mikan?" Nagito asked.

"It'll be fine, let's just relax for tonight..." Hajime said, rubbing Nagito's side.

The two boys got comfortable under the blankets and cuddled up to each other. Hajime gently tucked some hair behind Nagito's ear, chuckling softly.

"Your hair is growing long..." he said softly.

"Yeah...?" Nagito smiled a bit, "well yours is too..."

"It is...?" Hajime asked, then reached back to feel the tiny mullet starting to grow, "oh, I guess it is."

"I'm surprised you didn't notice," Nagito said, "you need to take care of yourself better Hajime..."

"Ah- how do you deduce that from me not noticing my hair's grown?" Hajime asked.

"Well, it's grown a pretty noticeable amount, so it's safe to assume you might be neglecting how you look, am I wrong?" Nagito asked.

"Ah- I mean no but also maybe-"

"I understand you wanna be there for me Hajime, but please take care of yourself as well..." Nagito rubbed the brunet's back.

Hajime sighed softly, "I'm sorry Nagito..."

"Ah, you don't have to apologize Hajime... it's just something to work on," Nagito kissed the brunet's cheek softly.

Hajime nodded, "yeah... I'll be sure to do that," he smiled softly, "but until then, it's sleep time..."

"I agree..." Nagito chuckled softly, hugging Hajime gently and closing his eyes.

When they both woke up the next morning, of course Mikan was there, and she looked mortified. Nagito had barely woken up, while Hajime was backing away a little, holding his hands up in defence.

"Hajime...! W-What are you doing here?!" Mikan exclaimed, hurrying over to the two.

"It's ok Mikan...! Nagito and I have come to an agreement!" Hajime said.

"Huh...? N-Nagito, what is he talking about?" She asked.

Nagito sat up a bit, rubbing his eyes to wake himself up, "he can stay... we're gonna find a way to deal with things..." he mumbled, "now I'm going back to sleep..."

"Ah... h-hold on...!" Mikan grabbed Nagito's arm.

"Hm...?" The pale boy looked to the purple haired girl.

"Y-you said... Hajime couldn't be here... why i-is he here...?" Mikan asked.

"We had a talk, that's all..." Nagito said, "I'll deal with Izuru fine... he can't dictate our relationship..."

"B-but...!"

"It'll be fine Mikan, I promise... we have Ryota's plan, right?" Nagito said.

"Y-yeah, but what if I-Izuru tries to hurt you...?" Mikan said.

"He wouldn't do that..." Nagito shook his head, "he's not that cruel, I can handle him..."

"A-are you sure Nagito...?" Mikan asked.

"Positive," Nagito nodded, "I'll be fine Mikan, I promise..."

The purple haired girl sighed, then nodded, "o-ok..."

Nagito then slowly stood up, rubbing his eyes a bit. He crossed the room to the bathroom, just looking to have a moment alone. He was tired, grumpy, and just generally miserable, it seemed he was getting worse. And it all hit him at once as well. He sighed softly to himself, of course he had to get more sick as he was getting ready to carry out his plan with Izuru. He hadn't even realized how long he'd been in there until there was a knock at the door, making Nagito jump.

"Everything ok in there Nagito?" Hajime asked.

"Hm..? Oh, yeah," Nagito nodded, standing up off the toilet and leaving the bathroom.

He opened the door to the brunet in front of him, looking a bit concerned. Nagito didn't do much, just leaning into Hajime's arms and hugging him.

"You ok...?" Hajime asked.

"Yeah, sorry..." Nagito said, "not necessarily feeling the greatest..."

"It's fine, don't worry..." Hajime rubbed the pale boy's back, "maybe you should go back to sleep..."

"No, no I'm fine, just having one of those days..." Nagito mumbled, "we need to make sure everything's ready for whenever Izuru decides to come back..."

"I can get Mikan and Kazuichi to fill me in while you rest-"

"I'm fine Hajime, I can help," Nagito insisted.

"You're not fine Nagito, you're sick," Hajime said, "I know you want to help and I don't doubt that you'd be able to, but right now it's more important that you rest so you can get better..."

"I have my luck, right? I should be fine!" Nagito backed up a bit.

"And if you get hit with bad luck? I don't want you to die Nagito!" Hajime grabbed onto the pale boy's shoulders, trying to guide him back to the bed.

"I'll be fine, I insist!" Nagito held onto Hajime's arms.

"The last time you insisted that you were dead a few days later!" Hajime tightened his grip on the pale boy's shoulders.

"I-" Nagito's eyes widened a bit, "I don't plan on dying anytime soon..." he looked away, biting his lip a bit.

Hajime sighed softly, letting go of Nagito's shoulders, "I just... I'm worried Nagito, sorry..."

"I know... but I want to help too..." Nagito said.

"I know, I know..." Hajime nodded, "will you rest if we discuss here...?"

"I get to engage, right...?" Nagito asked.

"Of course, just as long as you're resting..." Hajime rubbed his back, bringing the pale boy back to his bed.

Nagito sat down on the bed and groaned softly, shoving his face in a pillow. He didn't want to do this, but at least he'd be included with the others. This was all starting to become exhausting to him, he remembered why he hated being in the hospital all the time when he was younger. Sure, now at least Nagito could be treated, but he wished they could just let him go on and do whatever. He had luck, right? So why couldn't he rely on it to stay alive? Well, as much as Nagito did in fact have good luck, it was still just luck. He could sort of understand Hajime's concerns, since relying on luck to keep him alive to live a long life would probably be a bit stupid.

So he complied with Hajime's wishes and got comfortable. The brunet was off to get breakfast and Kazuichi, while Mikan stayed to deal with Nagito. She gave him the medication he needed, then sat with him.

"N-Nagito...? Is everything o-ok with you and Hajime...?" Mikan asked.

"Ah, no you don't have to worry Mikan," Nagito said, shaking his head, "I was just being stubborn, he was just worried... it's probably just because we haven't see each other in a bit..."

"A-are you sure Nagito...?" Mikan took his hand gently.

"Yeah, no need to worry, I promise," Nagito smiled softly, "I'll try to be a little less stubborn..."

Then Hajime returned with breakfast and with Kazuichi in tow. He sat down beside Mikan, handing out everyone's food then started to eat.

"How's everything Nagito?" Hajime asked.

"A little better," Nagito smiled a bit.

Hajime smiled as well, "that's good, at least it's something..."

Everyone was about to start eating their food, until something else stopped them.

"Hey! What's going on here?" They heard.

Mikan turned around, only to be met by a certain multi colour haired girl poking her head in, "I-Ibuki...?"

"Yep! Ibuki's here!" She smiled, entering the room.

"What are you doing here anyways?" Hajime asked.

"Ibuki followed Kazuichi!" She said, chuckling softly, "Ibuki misses her girlfriend and Nagito!"

"Can we... can we tell her about all of this...?" Hajime looked to Nagito.

"As long as she's not going to tell anyone else..." Nagito said.

"Hm? What are you two whispering about?" Ibuki giggled softly.

"Ah- nothing bad Ibuki, don't worry," Nagito chuckled softly.

"Then what is it?" Ibuki asked.

"You won't tell anyone, right...?" Nagito asked.

"Nope! Ibuki's lips are sealed tight!" She smiled.

"Ok, good..." Nagito chuckled softly, then sat up a bit so he could explain what was going on with Izuru.

Once Nagito finished explaining, Ibuki looked pretty interested. She stood up, a big smile on her face.

"Ibuki would love to help if Ibuki can! Ibuki wants to see a nice Izuru!" She said.

"Yeah, I think she'd be a good help," Kazuichi smiled.

The rest of them agreed. Ibuki was a big bundle of joy, they were sure that somehow she'd be able to have some kind of influence over Izuru.

"So why aren't we telling the others??" Ibuki asked, plopping back down into her seat.

"We just don't wanna worry them..." Nagito said, "but once we've got Izuru to a point where he's not going to do anything bad then we're going to reintroduce him to the others..."

"Oh, yeah that makes sense!" Ibuki smiled, "you just let Ibuki know when Ibuki's needed!"

"Will do, thank you Ibuki," Nagito smiled.

"You don't have to worry, Ibuki's here to save the day!" She giggled.

Soon after they all were finished, everyone slowly left to do their own thing. Mikan, Hajime and Nagito obviously staying behind in the hospital. The pale boy spent most of the day resting and sleeping, like Hajime asked. The brunet was glad, hopefully things would turn around. Hajime could work happily knowing that it was going to be ok. And by the time Nagito woke up, it left enough time for them to spend some time together before dinner.

Hajime had finished everything he had to do for the day, so he cleaned everything up and went to sit with the sleeping Nagito. He rubbed the boy's side gently as he slept, inadvertently starting to wake him up.

"Mm... Hajime...?" Nagito rolled over so he was facing the brunet.

"Oh- sorry, I didn't mean to wake you..." Hajime said softly.

"It's ok Hajime, I probably should get up anyways..." Nagito chuckled softly, sitting up a bit.

"How are you feeling?" Hajime asked, scooting a little closer to the pale boy.

"Well... I'm a bit tired still since I just woke up, but I think I'm doing a little better than this morning," Nagito said, leaning onto Hajime a bit, "and while we're here, could we talk for a moment?"

"Of course," Hajime nodded, "what's on your mind?"

"Ah, I just wanted to apologize for my behaviour this morning," Nagito said softly, "I know it's no excuse but I obviously wasn't feeling the greatest and I was being unnecessarily stubborn, I promise it won't happen again Hajime..."

"Well, you're forgiven," Hajime smiled softly, "I was a little frustrated about that exchange, but I'm glad you've apologized... I'll try not to worry too much as well, ok?"

"Sounds fair," Nagito chuckled softly.

"But for now, it's us time," Hajime said, hugging Nagito gently.

"Agreed," Nagito kissed the brunet's cheek softly.

Since they couldn't really go anywhere, oftentimes Hajime and Nagito would wander around the hospital. It was kind of repetitive, but it was something to do.

Hajime had started kicking his heels a bit as they walked, and Nagito took notice, "are you bored Hajime?"

"Ah- no, well- maybe? It's not you though, don't worry..." Hajime said.

"It's ok," Nagito chuckled softly, "I'm bored too Hajime, but we just have to deal with it, right?"

"Yeah... what do you wanna do when Mikan says you can go back to the cottage?" Hajime asked, squeezing Nagito's hand gently.

"Hm... probably get a meal at the restaurant with everyone," Nagito smiled, "I think it'd be nice to see everyone again, or maybe they can come and visit again!"

"Once we have this Kamukura issue dealt with we should probably invite them back again," Hajime smiled as well.

"Oh definitely," Nagito nodded, "it could be kind of like a celebration almost."

"Yeah," Hajime nodded as well, "hopefully this won't take too much longer..."

"Mhm, I just want this to be over," Nagito sighed, leaning onto Hajime a bit.

"You can say that again," the brunet let out a tiny chuckle.

"It will be soon though," Nagito smiled, "soon we won't have to worry about anything..."

"You're pretty optimistic," Hajime looked to the pale boy.

"Well of course," Nagito said, "I'm doing my best, and now that we've agreed that we can be around each other again I'm starting to feel a little better..."

"I'm glad that you can stay positive," Hajime smiled, "maybe I should take from you a bit..." he chuckled.

"Oh? Is everything ok Hajime?" Nagito asked.

"I just..." Hajime sighed softly, "I guess I just wasn't having a very great time when we were apart..."

"Ah- Hajime, I'm so sorry..." Nagito said softly, "I knew I should've just let it be, I'm really sorry..."

"Don't worry Nagito, I know you were just trying to keep us safe..." Hajime rubbed Nagito's back.

"And we're here now too, right?" The pale boy smiled softly.

"Exactly," Hajime returned the smile.

The two boys then made their way up to the on-call room where Mikan was resting. They peeked in to say goodnight and the purple haired girl returned the favour. Once they had that done, they returned to Nagito's room for the night to settle down.

Hajime wrapped his arms around Nagito, then plopped onto the bed with him. The pale boy chuckled softly, returning the brunet's embrace and cuddling up to him.

"You sleep well, ok Nagito?" Hajime said softly, pulling the blanket over them.

"You too Hajime..." Nagito said, kissing the brunet's cheek softly.

It didn't take too long for the boys to fall asleep, but it wasn't all peaceful for long. Hajime groaned, a small twitch coming from him every so often. Nagito didn't notice too much as he was already out. Though when Hajime's grip dramatically tightened around the pale boy, he was up.

He looked up to the brunet, shaking him gently. Nagito was a little worried considering Hajime wasn't one to move around in his sleep, so he just wanted to make sure everything was ok. Nagito shook him a bit more until the brunet jolted, sitting up a little as he woke up.

"Is everything ok Hajime...?" Nagito asked once he was up.

"I... I think it's Izuru..." Hajime said, holding his head, "but... I don't think I'm ready..."

Nagito sat quietly for a moment, thinking of how to go about this. The faster Izuru showed up, the faster they could deal with him. But he was a little reluctant to persist if Hajime wasn't ready.

Nagito gently held the brunet's hands, "we've got it under control Hajime, you don't have to worry..."

"I-I know..." Hajime nodded, "but I don't want to leave you just yet..." he shook his head, squeezing the pale boy's hands.

"You won't be gone for long Hajime, I promise..." Nagito said softly, "you'll be back before you know it..."

Hajime hugged Nagito close, "I just got back to you Nagito... I don't know if I can do this..."

"I know..." Nagito bit his lip, "but it'll just be like a little nap, right...? That's kind of how it was like the first time right?"

"Yeah... I guess..." Hajime sighed a bit.

"Then I'm sure it won't take long for you," Nagito kissed the brunet softly, "it'll be ok Hajime..."

Hajime looked down for a moment and sighed, maybe he should just let it go. Nagito was right, he probably wouldn't be gone long. He nodded a bit and rubbed Nagito's side.

"Yeah, ok... sorry for waking you Nagito..." Hajime said.

"Don't worry about it Hajime, you rest well ok...?" Nagito kissed the brunet again softly.

"Mhm... I'll see you in a bit..." Hajime returned the kiss, then laid down with the pale boy again.

Hajime returned to the same position they were in before, holding Nagito close and closing his eyes. He took a deep breath, everything would be fine like the pale boy said, so he just had to trust him. He eventually fell asleep, hoping that it really would be.


	9. Chapter 9

When Nagito woke up the next morning, he could feel the firm grasp around him that clearly didn't belong to Hajime. The pale boy sat up a little, carefully getting out of the brunet's arms without waking him up. He looked to the boy below him, biting his lip nervously. It was going to be ok, he told himself, he knew what he was doing. Nagito carefully got up out of the bed, continuing to be quiet so Izuru hopefully wouldn't wake up. He moved across the room to shut the door. Nagito didn't really know what else to do, but that door was the only exit in the room so the white haired boy just did what he had to to hopefully keep Izuru in the room.

He then leaned against the door and watched the brunet from across the room, not taking his eyes off him for even a second. The pale boy took note of any movement Izuru made, no matter how slight. And it stayed like that, until there was a knock at the door.

Nagito jumped a little, it must've been Mikan. He got up and cracked the door open to confirm that, then let her in. From the look in his eyes, Mikan could tell what was going on. The purple haired girl looked to the brunet, then back to Nagito, who gave a slight nod. She immediately called the others involved, getting them to come by hopefully before Izuru decided to wake up.

"I-I didn't expect this to go down so early..." Mikan said softly.

"Hajime was trying to fight in last night..." Nagito sighed, "I kind of feel bad for telling him to let go... he was scared Mikan..."

"But we're gonna g-get it taken care of r-right...?" Mikan rubbed Nagito's back gently.

"Yeah..." Nagito nodded, "I'm sure it'll be ok..." he sighed softly, "I just hope that Izuru doesn't make this too hard..."

"I-I'm sure we'll be able to convince him," Mikan said. She offered a hug to the pale boy, which he gladly took.

"It's gonna be fine..." Nagito said, mostly for himself but it was helpful to both of them.

Soon both Kazuichi and Ibuki arrived and were quickly let in. The four of them looked over to the sleeping boy across the room, wondering how to go about this first.

"So do we just... wake him up?" Kazuichi asked.

"I... I don't know..." Nagito said, sighing softly, "I mean, maybe we could just go about like normal until he wakes... there's no point in worrying if he's not even awake yet."

"T-true..." Mikan nodded.

The four were going to go about with that, until they heard a small groan from Izuru. Nagito was the first to take a step forward, though it was hesitant. He was still unsure of how any of this would go, but he continued forward until he was in front of the bed and knelt down as Izuru opened his eyes.

He looked around for a moment, then sighed, "it seems I've been ambushed..."

"Not ambushed," Nagito shook his head, then sighed himself, "look Kamukura... I know you're probably mad at me, but we want to help you."

"Help? What exactly is there to help?" Izuru asked.

"So you can be super cool with everyone and stuff!" Ibuki chimed in.

Nagito bit his lip, "just... please can you give us a chance to show you something a little nicer maybe...?"

"Is that necessary?" Izuru sat up a bit.

"Just- give it a chance, please..." Nagito said, reaching out to the brunet's hand.

Izuru looked at his hand in Nagito's for a moment, then back up to the pale boy's face, "and how long will his take?"

"Can you give it a few days at least?" Nagito squeezed the brunet's hand gently.

Izuru was quiet for a moment, then sighed, "if I must, then I will..."

Nagito smiled softly, "thank you so much Izuru..."

"Oh! Oh! Can he come to breakfast with us?" Ibuki asked.

"Yeah, I-I think it's a good idea that they know now..." Mikan said.

"Can Nagito come too?" Kazuichi asked.

"I-I don't think it'd be a good idea... sorry Nagito..." Mikan said.

"Ah, its ok," Nagito smiled softly, "you just make sure Kamukura doesn't get himself into trouble, ok?" He said, chuckling softly.

"You don't have to worry Nagito! We got it!" Ibuki giggled softly, giving a thumbs up.

Izuru sighed softly, "I think I may just be the one babysitting all of you... again..."

Nagito chuckled softly, "did you try to make a joke Kamukura?"

"I suppose, is that what it sounded like?" Izuru asked.

"Yeah!" Ibuki said, "you might be warming up to us already!"

Izuru sighed and stood up, "if I'm going to give whatever this is a chance, shouldn't we head on our way?"

"Ah, y-yes! Let's go," Mikan said, "I-I'll bring back breakfast for you Nagito..."

"Ok! You guys have fun..." Nagito waved.

The three said bye to Nagito, while Izuru remained quiet. The pale boy settled back into bed and grabbed a book, figuring he could get some reading in while he had some time to himself.

Meanwhile Mikan, Kazuichi and Ibuki brought the brunet to the restaurant, where everyone seemed to be waiting. There was really no 'right way' to go about this, so Ibuki waltzed in front of everyone to make an announcement.

"Morning guys!" She started, "so, you guys know Izuru right?"

She paused for a moment, as if waiting for an answer.

"Well, he's here and he's gonna have some fun! And we're gonna try to be nice!" Ibuki smiled.

It was quiet for a moment while everyone processes what Ibuki had just said. No one really knew what to do next. But Sonia decided to get up.

She moved over to Izuru and offered a hand, "well I'm sure we'll get along!"

Izuru looked to Sonia, then to her hand. He gently shook it, "I hope you won't disappoint."

Seeing that Izuru didn't bite, everyone else seemed to relax a bit. Ibuki and Kazuichi went ahead and brought the brunet to get food, while Mikan got some for her and Nagito. She soon excused herself to return to the hospital, leaving the other two to Izuru.

Kazuichi and Ibuki brought the brunet to the table, where the multicoloured haired girl took a peek at Izuru's plate.

"Ooo... your food's different than Hajime's... do you guys have different tastes?" She asked.

"Yes, I prefer sweet things over whatever Hajime's tastes are..." Izuru said, rolling his eyes at the thought of Hajime's food preferences.

Ibuki giggled, "Izuru can be pretty funny sometimes."

"Was that supposed to be funny?" Izuru asked, almost glaring at the girl beside him.

"You tell Ibuki!" Ibuki smiled.

Izuru stayed quiet and just stared at Ibuki blankly. He had no idea what was going, nor how this was supposed to be nice in any way.

After a while, Ibuki just smiled a little awkwardly, "aha... yeah... Ibuki's going to eat now!"

Izuru was fine with that, he didn't want to talk much anyways. And it seemed all conversation ended with that as it was nearly dead silent around the table. The others were still mildly intimidated by Izuru, so no one dared to speak while they were there.

Once everyone was finished, Ibuki and Kazuichi said their goodbyes, then quietly brought Izuru back to the hospital.

"Ah, how'd everything go...?" Nagito's voice chimed in when the three entered.

"Uh..." Kazuichi rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hm... I assume not too well..." Nagito chuckled softly, "here, maybe I can take him from here..."

"A-are you sure Nagito?" Mikan asked.

"Mhm, I'm sure," the pale boy smiled, "as long as that's ok with Kamukura of course."

"Do you have any particular business wth me?" The brunet crossed his arms.

"No, but maybe we can just talk," Nagito shrugged, then beckoned him over, "come sit."

Izuru was surprisingly complacent and sat at the end of the bed. Mikan, Ibuki and Kazuichi looked to each other and gave a slight nod, then left the two, figuring they'd be ok alone.

"Hm... what about a book?" Nagito suggested, "I'm sure there was one about boats here somewhere..."

The pale boy got out of bed and went to his little pile of books, then started to look for the book in question. He had his books organized in piles of fiction and non-fiction books, so he knew where he was going. Eventually he pulled out the book he was looking for, letting out a small "aha!".

Nagito returned to the bed and scooted over to Izuru, "here, how about this?"

"Did you get that specifically for me?" Izuru asked.

"Mm... not necessarily..." Nagito shook his head, "I just happened to grab it, just my luck right?" He chuckled softly.

Izuru remained quiet while Nagito opened the book and looked at the contents, "does anything here interest you Kamukura?"

Despite not being interested in reading the book in the first place, the brunet looked to the contents. He figured out the language it was in and translated the page in his head then started to read the contents.

"This seems... mildly interesting..." Izuru said softly.

Nagito smiled at that, "that's good, could I read to you?"

"I'm perfectly capable of reading myself," Izuru said.

"Sure, but I think this would be nice, you know? You can relax Kamukura..." Nagito said softly.

Izuru sighed softly, "if this is apart of 'giving this'- whatever it is, 'a chance', then I guess I have to..."

"Good, which part do you want to read?" Nagito asked.

Izuru pointed to the title of one of the chapters, earning a small nod from Nagito. The pale boy was a little cautious, but he leaned against Izuru gently just so he could be comfortable. The brunet didn't fight back at all, but attempted to do something as he wrapped his arm around Nagito and placed his hand on his side.

Nagito took a moment and closed the book and tapped Izuru's hand a bit, "relax..."

Izuru looked to his hand, "what am I doing wrong?"

"Your hand is really tense, it kinda hurts," Nagito said, "I'm fine if you do that, just relax your arm and your hand."

Izuru nodded slightly, doing as Nagito asked. The pale boy smiled, "there, that's much better... don't you feel better too?"

"Define 'better'" Izuru said.

Nagito took a moment to think, before looking to Kamukura, "more relaxed you know?"

"Hm... I guess... though I'm not too familiar with being relaxed," Izuru said.

"I'm sure we'll be able to change that," Nagito smiled, "we can get Nekomaru to give you a massage and get rid of all that tension you and Hajime hold."

"If you insist..." Izuru nodded.

"Anyways, let's get to reading," Nagito smiled.

Nagito opened the book back up and turned to the section Izuru wanted to read. He spoke softly as he read each paragraph, not too dissimilar from when he read to Hajime. Every so often the pale boy would feel the brunet nod or hear him make a small grunt in acknowledgement to something. Izuru seemed to be quite engaged, so Nagito continued to read into the next section.

Nagito ended up reading so much, that they got through the rest of the big book. At that point, Nagito had been mumbling the words, nearly asleep. Izuru didn't seem to notice too much, until Nagito shut the book and seemingly instantly fell asleep against the brunet.

Izuru looked to the sleeping boy against him for a moment, then took the book that he was barely holding onto at that point. He moved the boy off him, then got up and put the book back with the other ones. He looked back to the white haired boy and moved back to him, checking on him to make sure everything was ok health wise. Then he picked Nagito up, laying him down properly on the pillows.

He then got up and left Nagito's room, going to find Mikan. She was resting in the on-call room and the brunet went over to get her up.

"Mm... uh- I-Izuru...?" Mikan's eyes widened a bit, "wh-wh-what do you need...?"

"I just wanted to check and be sure that Komaeda doesn't have any special preparations before he sleeps at all," Izuru explained.

"Ah..." Mikan nodded in acknowledgment, then shook her head, "no, as long as he's been checked over h-he should be ok..."

"I've already done that," Izuru said.

"O-ok..." Mikan nodded, "um... if you don't want to stay here all alone while Nagito's asleep, I-I could bring you to see some o-of the others if you'd like..."

"Sure, that Sonia seemed interesting..." Izuru said softly.

"Oh, sh-she's probably with Gundham, Akane, and Nekomaru, I-I can help you find them," Mikan said, getting up out of bed.

"Very well," Izuru nodded.

Mikan left the hospital with Izuru and went to find Sonia.

Izuru wasn't nervous or anything, as far as he knew, he was practically emotionless. Though he did feel slightly uneasy as walked. He wasn't very familiar with spending time with people just for leisure, but he told Nagito he'd give all of this- which he was still unsure of what it was, a chance so he was to see it through.

Once him and Mikan found who they were looking for, the brunet spoke up, "good afternoon."

That earned a small flinch from both Nekomaru and Sonia. Though the blonde returned with a smile, trying to be nice, "good afternoon Kamukura!"

"What are you doing here man?" Akane chuckled softly.

"Nagito is asleep, I wanted to find something to do," Izuru simply said.

"Oh, well you can hang out with us!" Nekomaru said.

With that, Mikan nodded to her self, then left the brunet to the four. He seemed to be doing ok, so she didn't worry too much.

Izuru was pretty calm and collected, but he also had a habit of coming off a little awkward. He was quiet, only speaking when he was asked a question.

"What brought you here, Izuru Kamukura?" Gundham asked.

"I am quite interested in Sonia Nevermind, and Nagito had told me that Nidai gives good massages," Izuru explained.

Gundham acted a little defensively at that statement, immediately grabbing onto Sonia. Nekomaru responded with a small chuckle, "well I'm sure I could loosen you up! Come here."

Izuru did as Nekomaru asked and went over to him. He looked up the tall, broad boy, "yes?"

"Ok, you can take your shirt off and I'll get to work!" Nekomaru smiled.

Izuru complied, pulling his shirt off and sitting in front of Nekomaru. The others were a little surprised that Kamukura was so compliant, and just watched as the taller boy started to look for knots and tension in Izuru's back and neck.

"Wow, you're pretty tense," Nekomaru commented, gently massaging out his neck.

"And that's bad?" Izuru asked.

"Well it's not great," Nekomaru chuckled softly, "but if you need any of this tension released, I'm the guy to call!"

"Hm... very well..." Izuru nodded. Now that he'd been made aware of this tension in his body, he tried to remember a time when he wasn't as tense as he was right then. He couldn't.

As Nekomaru worked, the brunet would grunt every so often. This made the strong boy to chuckle, "feels weird doesn't it?" He asked.

"It... it's indeed strange..." Izuru said softly.

"Well don't you worry! By the time I'm done you're gonna feel great!" He laughed, then continued forward.

By the time Nekomaru was finished, Izuru definitely felt interesting. He stood up and pulled his shirt on again, feeling just how loose he'd gotten.

"Heh, how's that?" Nekomaru asked.

"Ah- it's..." Izuru looked for the word. He didn't really know how to describe how he was feeling. He was quiet for a bit, how was he feeling? His eyebrows raised a bit when something came to him though. Was this what Nagito was talking about when he said he'd show him 'something nicer'? He looked back to Nekomaru, a slightly surprise look still on his face, "it's... it's nice..."

"Great! You can come to me whenever you need another one man!" Nekomaru pat the brunet on the back.

"Yes... thank you Nidai..." Izuru nodded.

"It's good that you're feeling better!" Sonia smiled.

"Why do you think that?" The brunet asked, “it doesn’t necessarily benefit you.”

"Not necessarily, I believe if everyone's having a good time, then I'm having a good time," Sonia said softly, "and if we can help you to feel better in any way, that makes me happy."

"Hm... that's an interesting view..." Izuru said.

"You think so?" Sonia asked.

"Indeed," Izuru nodded, "I've been under the impression that caring for only myself is the only way to survive, however if that is another way to sustain myself, then I might have to try it."

"We'll be there to help Kamukura!" Sonia nodded, smiling softly.

"Thank you, I'm sure it'll be very helpful," Izuru nodded.

The brunet was going to leave, only to be stopped by the others.

"Yo, are you heading back to the hospital?" Akane asked.

"Yes, I'm sure I can't really go anywhere else without supervision," Izuru didn't like that word, _supervision_. It made him feel like a child.

"Can we come?" Akane asked, "I wanna see how Nagito's doing!"

"I'm sure it would be ok," Izuru nodded.

"Yes!" Akane fist bumped the air, "let's go!"

The four others followed Izuru back to the third island and to the hospital. Mikan was just leaving Nagito's room and saw them all enter, then hurried over.

"D-did everything go well?" She asked.

"I believe so!" Sonia smiled, "Nekomaru gave Kamukura a massage, he seems to be doing better..."

"Y-yeah?" Mikan looked to the brunet.

"Yes, it was... better than I expected," Izuru said.

"That's g-good," Mikan smiled, "I'm sure Nagito w-would like to see you guys now..." she said softly.

"Is he awake?" Izuru asked.

"Y-yeah, he's just reading r-right now," Mikan nodded.

"Very well," Izuru nodded, then walked with the others to Nagito's room.

When they entered the room, Nagito was deep inside a book as Mikan said. The lights were turned off, using only the natural light from the window beside the bed to light the room.

"Komaeda," Izuru said, quickly getting Nagito's attention.

"Oh, hello Kamukura, I was wondering where you were," Nagito smiled, then noticed the others, "oh! Hey guys!" He put his book down and got up.

"How've you been feeling Nagito?" Sonia asked.

"Ah... honestly kind of crappy, but I'm pushing through," Nagito chuckled softly.

"Well I'm sure things'll get better soon!" Nekomaru smiled, patting the pale boy's back gently.

"Oh I hope so," Nagito said, "I'm getting a little annoyed with all of this."

"It must not be comfortable," Gundham crossed his arms.

"Not at all," Nagito chuckled, "but I'm trying to stay positive, because at some point I will get better..."

The six of them sat in Nagito's room, talking for quite a while. They actually started to cut into dinner, which the four others decided to spend in the hospital. Though once they were finished, they had to head back for the night.

Everyone said their goodbyes, then left. Nagito and Izuru returned to settle down for the night, though the pale boy was a little nervous about it.

"So, how was your first day Kamukura...?" Nagito asked, sitting on the bed.

"It was... interesting..." Izuru said, looking out the window.

"Really...?" Nagito smiled, "that's good! It's great to see you're intrigued Kamukura."

"Hm... I believe this might just become enjoyable..." Izuru crossed his arms, looking back to the pale boy.

"Enjoyable...? That's even better!" Nagito got up and went over to the brunet, "Izuru that's great! It's only your first sat and you're doing so good!" The white haired boy said, pulling Izuru into a hug.

The brunet flinched a little as Nagito hugged him. He wasn't all that used to hugging or physical contact for that matter, but something else intrigued him, "Komaeda, did you call me by my first name...?"

"Ah-" Nagito's eyes widened, "I-I didn't realize, I'm so sorry if I offended you Kamukura-kun! I didn't mean to be so rude, I-!"

"You seem to be warming up to me as well," Izuru cut Nagito off.

"Huh...?" The pale boy stopped, letting Izuru explain.

"You've never changed," the brunet said, "you're still as self deprecating as ever, even if the blows to yourself aren't as hard as they used to be. I wasn't offended Komaeda, in fact if you're starting to become more comfortable with me then would it be ok for me to call you Nagito?"

"Y-yeah, of course it is..." Nagito nodded, "but... I thought I was getting better... Hajime even told me..."

Izuru sighed softly, "let me rephrase then," he said, his hand beginning to rub Nagito's back, "just because you're still self deprecating doesn't mean you haven't improved. As I said, your remarks aren't as harsh as they used to be, so that's improvement, yes? You just have to learn that when people ask you questions they aren't mad at you."

"Hm... yeah, I guess..." the pale boy nodded.

Izuru glanced out the window, then back to Nagito, "it's dark, is it time for you to sleep?"

Nagito looked to the clock on the wall in the room, then nodded a bit, "yeah, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea..."

"Do I have to sleep in the same bed?" Izuru asked.

"Oh no, of course not!" Nagito said, "though, there isn't really anywhere else you can go since Mikan probably wouldn't let you sleep in another room... but you don't have to sleep in the bed with me if you don't want to."

"Hm, well if it's my only option," the brunet said, sitting down on the bed.

"Ah, ok..." Nagito nodded, then got in the bed beside Izuru, "do you wanna change at all before you go to bed?"

"Oh," Kamukura sighed as he noticed he was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, "I suppose..."

"Hm... you didn't bring anything with you..." Nagito crossed his arms to think. But soon he stood up, "I'm going to go ask Mikan if she'll let me take you to get clothes."

Izuru stood as well, following Nagito up to the on-call room, standing back as the pale boy knocked on the door.

"Nagito...?" Mikan opened the door.

"Sorry for bothering you Mikan... but do you think you could let me go back to the cottages so I can get Kamukura some clothes...?" Nagito asked.

"But w-what about with what happened last time...?" The purple haired girl asked.

"I'll bundle up this time, I promise...! I won't even be that long, I swear..." Nagito leaned onto the door.

"Nagito..."Mikan said softly, biting her lip.

"I'll be no less than 5 minutes, please Mikan..." Nagito pleaded.

Mikan sighed softly and disappeared in her room for a moment, before returning with a mask in hand, "a-at least wear this..."

"Ah, thank you so much Mikan! I'll be back as soon as possible!" Nagito smiled, taking the mask and hurrying back down to his room to find something warm.

"I'm sure Mikan could've taken me, I know what your cottage looks like," Izuru said.

"Yeah, but this is also an excuse to let me get some fresh air," Nagito said, pulling on the warmest clothes he had.

"Even if your life's at risk?" Izuru asked.

"Heh, my life's not at risk, I have my luck," Nagito smiled softly, zipping his jacket up.

"From what I've seen from Hajime, you're slowly growing weaker Nagito," Izuru crossed his arms.

"Me? Weaker? I've always been weak Izuru, I'm surprised you've never realized that before," Nagito said, "especially since you've seen me at my lowest..."

"That's not comparable Nagito," Izuru said, "back then you weren't acting in the right state of mind, you were brainwashed by Junko. Now you're sick, physically you are becoming weaker right now, are you sure you want to do this?"

"You're speaking to me like I'm going to war," Nagito chuckled softly, "it won't be long Izuru, I promise..."

Kamukura sighed and nodded, letting Nagito get his shoes on. Once the pale boy was ready, he stood and looked to Izuru, smiling under the mask he had on.

The brunet went to Nagito and the two left. Izuru was prepared to keep moving forward, but the pale boy stalled. He looked up to the sky and pulled his mask down a little bit, taking a deep breath. He smiled softly as he breathed out, noticing his breath floating in front of his face.

"Ah, is it really that cold...?" Nagito asked, pulling his mask back up.

"It may be snowing off the island," Izuru said, pulling his jacket closed a little bit.

Nagito smiled, "I miss snow... I hope someday we can return to future foundation during the winter." Then the pale boy looked to Kamukura, "wait, have you ever seen snow Izuru?"

"I've seen brief flurries," Izuru said.

"Well then we have to go back!" Nagito said, catching up to the brunet.

"Is it any more interesting?' Izuru asked.

"Definitely, it's much more interesting when there's lots of snow on the ground as opposed to just a few flurries," the pale boy nodded.

"Hm, I shall keep it in mind then..." Izuru nodded as well.

The two returned to Hajime and Nagito's cottage, and Izuru stepped aside so the pale boy could open the door. The brunet was quiet as Nagito entered, running around the room to get some clothes.

"This stuff is ok, right?" Nagito asked, showing Izuru the clothes in his arms.

"I don't really care," Izuru said, crossing his arms.

"Ah, of course!" Nagito chuckled softly, gathering everything he had and returning with the brunet.

The two boys returned with relatively quietly and quickly, not wanting to upset Mikan any further. Komaeda was also starting to get cold, so he didn't want to be outside for much longer. Once they returned, Mikan ushered them off to Nagito's room and told them to go to bed.

The pale boy settled into bed after putting Kamukura's clothes away, while the brunet stood over the bed. Nagito raised an eyebrow, looking up to Izuru, "are you not going to bed...?"

"I can find somewhere else, you need sleep Nagito," Izuru said.

"Nonsense, come lay down," Nagito scooted over in the bed, leaving room for Kamukura.

The brunet looked to Nagito, raising his eyebrow a little bit. He removed the zip up sweater he had on, placing it on the chair. Izuru then went back to the bed, gently laying down beside the pale boy.

"There, now you can sleep too," Nagito said softly, rolling over onto his side.

Izuru sighed, "very well, goodnight Nagito."

"Goodnight Izuru..." Nagito chimed, the smile evident in his voice. He was glad things seemed to be going for the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long!!! Hope you guys enjoy it though!

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the sequel to Marigolds! I’m very excited to start this one and I hope you all enjoy!


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